Connor's Sunnydale Vacation
by BonnieD
Summary: Connor visits the Summers' household. Dawn thinks he's creepy. Romance ensues.
1. Default Chapter

"Connor's Sunnydale Vacation" by BonnieD  
  
I first heard someone suggest a Dawn/Connor pairing a long time ago but it meant nothing to me until I was finally able to see season 3 Angel in syndication and meet the brooding Jungle Boy. Then I began to see the possibilities in such a relationship and wondered how you could mess with canon and force them to meet. I knew Her Whininess would never put up with Connor's crap and thought that, just maybe, she'd have better insight into his needs than any of the adults.  
  
This story takes place post season 6 Buffy/season 3 Angel with the facts twisted as needed; ie. Connor found out the truth about Holtz, stopped short of sending Angel to the bottom of the sea and they have a tentative relationship. Everything in Sunnydale happened as in canon until further notice. Dawn's age was stated in season 5 as being 14. With a summer birthday this should place her at almost 16 in my story - not too young for a little romance.  
  
Chapter One  
  
"He's creepy, just plain creepy," Dawn complained again. "I don't see why we have to.."  
  
"Because Angel asked us to," Buffy hissed. "And lower your voice. He's just in the other room and he's not deaf!"  
  
"But, Buffy." Dawn interrupted herself. "Never mind." She resumed scrubbing furiously at the lasagna-encrusted pan in the sink. If there was one thing she'd learned it was not to bother arguing with Buffy about Slayer related stuff and somehow Connor seemed to fall under that heading.  
  
"It's only for a few weeks. A month tops," Buffy continued. "Angel wanted him to have a break from the city. And to see how a regular family lives."  
  
"So he sent him to the Hellmouth for vacation?" Dawn was incredulous. "And he considers US a regular family?"  
  
Buffy pitched her voice even lower. "Plus I think Angel's got some stuff going on over there he doesn't want Connor involved with." She fluttered the hand with the dishtowel vaguely. "He was pretty unclear."  
  
After drying and neatly stacking a plate in the cupboard she added, "Besides, I guess for a kid who grew up in a hell dimension Sunnydale looks like pastoral living."  
  
Dawn shrugged, gave up on cleaning the pan and began filling it with fresh hot water to soak off the stuck on noodles in the tried and true overnight method. "Still, it seems weird to me. I mean, let me get the story straight.Against all odds Angel and Darla give birth to a human baby who right away gets kidnapped and sent to Quor-toth where he grows up then returns with a death vendetta against Angel because his evil father figure brainwashed him. Okay. That's the easy part. But then." Becoming increasingly agitated, Dawn turned off the tap and began wiping her hands dry on her shirttail since there weren't any more dishtowels handy.  
  
"He comes this close," she illustrated with her thumb and forefinger, "to sending Angel on a one way trip to the bottom of the ocean, but learns the truth just in time and begins some kind of tentative bonding with his vampire father, who, and this is the part I don't get, after less than a month of quality father/son sharing time brings him to us to babysit."  
  
"Dawn, it's hardly babysitting," Buffy interjected. "He's older than you."  
  
"Huh, I'd have to do the math on that," Dawn said. "If you go by earth time he's only about, what, three months old or something? And I'm almost two years this summer."  
  
"Hah, hah, very funny." Using the opportunity to change the subject Buffy asked, "Speaking of birthdays, who are you planning to ask to your party next week?"  
  
"Oh, Janice I suppose, even though we don't hang out much any more. And there's this new girl I met at work who's pretty nice, Marie. She just moved here and nobody's had time to tell her any freaky stories about my big sister yet so she still thinks we're normal. Viola, instant new friend. Plus, if I invite her I can just give a blanket invitation to all the other baggers at Shopping Center and maybe." Dawn's voice rose in excitement, "Ryan will come."  
  
"Good plan," Buffy said absently as she stacked another dry plate.  
  
"Anyway," Dawn continued, "I thought I'd also ask.."  
  
"Hello?" The kitchen door opened and Xander stuck his head in and whispered. "Are you girls ever gonna be finished? Cause I don't know how long I can entertain this guy. He's got no conversational skills whatsoever, and.he just kind of creeps me out."  
  
"See!" Dawn pointed emphatically at Buffy. "I told you. It's not just me. Connor is freaky."  
  
"Maybe a little intense," Buffy admitted, "But you guys need to cut him some slack. Just think of everything he's been through."  
  
"What about what we've been through!" Xander complained, entering the kitchen. "A parade of near apocalypses and herds of demons and vampires screwing up our lives, I'd say we've all earned the right for someone to cut us some slack."  
  
"Xander," Buffy wheedled, "Please be nice. It's only for a short time. Do it for Ang.." She cut off at the look on his face. "For me."  
  
Xander rolled his eyes. "Fine. But give me something else to feed him. That'll keep him busy for a while." He strode to the cupboard and began poking around.  
  
"I'll pop a movie in then we don't have to talk to him at all," Dawn reasoned. "What do you think he'd relate to? Somehow I don't think Sense and Sensibility will hold much meaning."  
  
"Too bad you don't have some old Land of the Lost episodes," Xander mumbled as he rummaged. Buffy shook her head. Dawn laughed and left the kitchen.  
  
*********  
  
Entering the living room Dawn was uncomfortably aware of Connor's propensity toward staring. Suddenly she knew how a prairie dog felt when the shadow of a hawk fell across its path. 'Find shelter. Seek cover,' her inner voice warned. 'Danger, Will Robinson!'  
  
Conner was perched on the edge of the couch looking ready to swoop. His eyes never left her as she headed toward the shelf where they kept their limited tape library. Naturally in a household of women they tended toward chick flicks. Buffy declared that she got enough action on the job and didn't care if she watched anything in which cars blew up, bad guys were decapitated or Angelina Jolie pretended to know something about martial arts. However there was an ancient copy of The Matrix Xander had bequeathed them after he got his new DVD player so she grabbed it from the shelf.  
  
"So, Connor," she spoke slowly and enunciated carefully as if he were a foreign exchange student. "This is called a movie. What you see isn't real. It's just a story they're telling."  
  
"Yeah," he replied, eyes narrowing at her condescending voice. His voice drizzled disdain like chocolate syrup on ice cream, "I've seen movies with my. in L.A. I know what they are."  
  
"So-rree," she drawled. "I don't know what you know about and what you don't. Angel didn't say very much when he dropped you off." With a flip of her glossy brown hair she turned her back on him and jammed the movie into their vintage early '90s VCR.  
  
"You'll like this. There's lots of fight sequences." She tried hard to quash her irritation with the unwelcome guest and adopt a conversational tone. "Um.it's set in the future and this guy named Neo finds out that.."  
  
"I know this story," he interrupted. "I have already seen it. The fights are very unrealistic."  
  
"Well then." Dawn started the tape then flopped down in the armchair. "You can have fun watching it again and picking apart all the flaws. That's the best part of watching movies."  
  
"No one can repeatedly dodge a bullet. Once maybe, but.."  
  
Dawn shot him a quelling look. "I suppose you think you can?"  
  
"I have," he replied.  
  
Dawn looked at him full on. He was still perched on the edge of the couch as if ready for flight, a stiff contrast to her sprawled pose. "Let me guess, this is the beginning of the 'When I was back in Quor-toth.' stories?"  
  
"What?" He frowned in confusion.  
  
"Well spears don't count as bullets, and I really don't want to hear you brag on all the demons you've killed, blabbity, blah, blah, blah."  
  
"I didn't say.." His frown deepened.  
  
"'Cause believe me, we have our share of battles here, you know. Don't even think you can impress us."  
  
Connor gave up arguing and concentrated on piercing her with his eyes instead. Dawn withstood it for all of forty-five seconds.  
  
"Stop staring at me and just watch the movie," she commanded. When she snuck a glance over at Connor, she found his eyes trained on the TV.  
  
The techno beat of the soundtrack soon filled the awkward silence. Dawn watched the story unfold impatiently and wondered if Xander was ever going to come back with snacks. She considered that once the mystery of the Matrix had been revealed, the story lost its impact on repeated viewings. Stifling a yawn, she wished she'd put in Sense and Sensibility after all. Romance never got boring.  
  
She cast another glance at Connor. He had finally settled back farther on the couch and was still staring fixedly at the movie. Dawn wondered what was wrong with Cordelia that she hadn't given the kid a makeover yet, but maybe raggedy shag cuts were the new, hip thing in L.A. If so, she hoped the style wouldn't catch on in Sunnydale.  
  
At least his clothes were normal enough she supposed, a long sleeved T with a short sleeve shirt over it, jeans and scuffed black boots. From what Angel had said Connor had arrived in the world dressed in demon hides. Try explaining that to the neighbors.  
  
His eyes, when they weren't drilling holes through you, were kind of pretty she had to admit. Big and blue when they weren't narrowed in a scowl. She wondered what they would look like if he ever smiled.  
  
Dawn decided that she didn't like his lips, far too full, red and effeminate for her taste in guys. As a matter of fact, with the longish hair he was pretty girly looking in general. Not someone she would ever be attracted to.  
  
About the fifth time Dawn snuck a peek at Connor she met his arrogant stare. Caught! Her heart flipped in her chest.  
  
"What?" he demanded.  
  
"Nothing," she stammered. "I was just.." She trailed off and swung her eyes back to the TV.  
  
After a long pause she looked at him again just to see if he was still looking at her. He was. She decided the awkwardness had gone on long enough and she would engage him in conversation if it killed her.  
  
"So what was it like? In Quor-toth. Were there many humans there?"  
  
"No. Just me and my father."  
  
"You never saw anyone then, any other people, until you came here?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Wow." Dawn considered that for a moment. "What about, like, disembodied souls? I mean, if murderers and stuff go to hell after they die, shouldn't they end up someplace like that?"  
  
Connor shrugged.  
  
"How about vampires?" she pressed. "The demon in them has to go somewhere after they go poof here, right?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Well, what kind of things were in Quor-toth then?" Dawn demanded, sitting up straighter in her chair and giving the impression of crossing her arms petulantly, although they actually stayed on the arms of the chair.  
  
"We didn't name them. We just killed them," Connor deadpanned.  
  
"Oh."  
  
It now appeared that a staring match was in progress. Dawn was determined that she wouldn't break and look away first. But that didn't stop her from breaking the silence after another few seconds.  
  
"So how'd you get out?"  
  
"Followed a demon. Fought it and broke through the dimensional wall."  
  
"Re-aallly." Dawn couldn't think of anything derogatory to say since the feat actually was quite impressive, so she changed subjects. "My sister was in another dimension before. A heavenly one. She says it was all peace and light and rest. It sounded really nice but kinda boring."  
  
"I don't believe in heaven," Connor's voice was hard.  
  
"You don't?" Dawn pondered a moment then added, "Well, that's just stupid! If you believe in hell, which you've been to and know exists, then you have to believe in the opposite. Creation is all about balance, yin and yang. You can't have a negative without a positive. That's just common sense."  
  
Connor shrugged and continued to stare.  
  
Dawn frowned, really did cross her arms this time, and continued to stare back.  
  
"What do you think happens then?" she asked after a moment. "When you die, I mean? What do you think happens to the soul or life force or whatever?"  
  
"Nothing. You're just dead." Connor's jaw clenched and he was beginning to look angry instead of arrogant. "Nothing happens."  
  
Dawn hesitated realizing her questions had touched a nerve. She prodded the nerve again to see what would happen. "What makes you so sure?"  
  
"Because my father told me about God and angels and devils and sinners. He told me that righteous people like us would be welcomed into heaven when we died." He paused then snapped, "But my father was a liar. Everything he said was a lie."  
  
Dawn wanted to push it further to debate his logic but Connor looked so hurt and damaged she didn't have the heart to keep needling.  
  
"You know, I wasn't always human," she said. "Some monks made me up out of a glowy, energy blob and put me here to hide me from a hell god."  
  
"I know," Connor replied. "Angel explained it already."  
  
"So I don't know if I have a soul to send to heaven or hell anyway," she added. "Guess the whole argument about whether there is or isn't kinda doesn't matter then, huh?"  
  
Connor reverted to the non-committal shrug.  
  
"I wish I knew, though," Dawn said wistfully, forgetting to stare and dropping her gaze back to the world of the Matrix. "I don't like surprises or secrets. I just want to know what I am and what's going to happen to me."  
  
"Nothing," Connor reiterated. "It'll just go black." He gestured at the table lamp. "Like when one of these electric bulbs burn out."  
  
"Hm." She studied the lamp as if it held the key to all the mysteries of the universe. "That's what you believe?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Well," she crooked the corner of her mouth into a smile and gave him a sidelong look. "Guess it's better than a hell dimension."  
  
She startled a smile out of him in return. "Definitely," he emphatically agreed.  
  
"All right," Xander entered the room armed with several large bowls of popcorn. "Who has room for an after dinner snack?" He thrust a bowl at each of them, then arranged himself on the floor right in front of the TV. "Ooh, The Matrix," he exclaimed as if it were a new release he'd been anxiously awaiting.  
  
"Xander, you are such a nerd," Dawn teased affectionately. "Newsflash. Reality isn't real and Neo is The One."  
  
"Dawn!" he slapped her ankle. "Don't ruin the end!"  
  
She laughed and gave him a push with her foot, grabbed a handful of popcorn and began to munch it down.  
  
*********  
  
Connor watched the girl as he steadily ate his way through the bowl of popped grain the man had given him. He wasn't really hungry but had learned early to eat all he could when food was available. In this world it seemed like people were always shoving food at him and urging him to eat. He didn't need any urging.  
  
He decided he didn't like the girl. She asked too many questions and made him think about things he had laid to rest. He preferred the people at Angel Investigations who all tried to act as if he'd always been there. They never questioned him about his former life and that was fine with him.  
  
This girl, Dawn, confused him. She talked constantly but never said anything important. She didn't know anything about fighting and killing demons, didn't know anything useful at all and yet she acted like she was superior to him. He had been here less than a day and seen her go through a dozen different emotions, as uncontrolled as a tiny child. And he was amazed that the Slayer let the girl speak to her so rudely.  
  
Connor ate another handful of popcorn and watched Dawn and Xander banter back and forth. That was one of many things he still was not accustomed to in this world, the way people talked to one another in that teasing manner. His father had never spoken to him lightly. His words always carried instruction and gravity. Connor didn't think he'd ever get used to the constant joking here. He was never sure whether peoples' words were intended seriously or not until after they laughed at him. It made him very uneasy.  
  
He watched Dawn's open, laughing face and felt a tangled mix of emotions rush through him. He wanted to slap her to make her stop giggling. He wanted to be the one making her laugh. He wanted to be like her - so uncomplicated and free. And he wanted something else, ached for something else that he couldn't even define.  
  
Connor tore his eyes away from her and back toward the television. 'Confusing and not worth another thought' he counseled himself. 'She's just a silly child.'  
  
On the screen Keanu listened as Trinity pressed her body against him at the dance club, telling him about destiny and truth in a throaty whisper. Against his will, Connor's traitorous eyes snuck back to Dawn for another look at her pretty, smiling face.  
  
"Connor!"  
  
"What?!" He jerked in his seat and his eyes flew to meet the Slayer's. She was standing in the doorway, slipping a jacket on.  
  
"I'm going on patrol. Wanna come with?" she asked casually.  
  
He nodded and leaped to his feet, ready to bolt from the room.  
  
"Have a nice night. Don't get killed," Dawn said airily. He glanced down as he passed her but she was already engrossed in the movie again.  
  
**********  
  
"It's still kind of early," the Slayer said as he followed her outside. "But I thought I could give you an idea of the layout of the town before any action starts."  
  
She launched into a detailed explanation about the geography of the various cemeteries and the rest of the town. Connor listened intently as he strode along beside her. Finally he was on solid ground again in a paradigm he understood: hunt, find, kill.  
  
After a while Buffy fell silent and they walked companionably through the almost empty back streets of Sunnydale then entered Restfield Cemetery.  
  
"So...how is Angel," she asked presently. "Are you two getting along all right?"  
  
Connor shrugged. "He's okay I guess."  
  
"He told me you're quite an amazing fighter," Buffy continued. "I'll hold back tonight and let you show me your stuff."  
  
Despite himself, Connor smiled. His fighting skills were one thing he could always count on and be proud of. He looked forward to showing the Slayer what he could do.  
  
"What's it like for you working with Angel?" she asked.  
  
"He gets in my way," Connor complained.  
  
"Oh yeah," Buffy agreed, smiling. "That sounds like Angel. He means well but he's a little, all right a lot, overprotective. He thinks no one can function without him."  
  
"I'm better than him, you know," Connor said simply. "He won't admit it but I'm faster than he is and soon I'll be stronger too."  
  
Buffy didn't say anything for a minute. "Well, I guess that makes sense," she finally ventured. "If you have both Darla and Angel's power combined you must be pretty unstoppable."  
  
He almost smiled again at the compliment and decided he liked the Slayer.  
  
"What do you know about my mother," he asked. "No one will talk about her over there."  
  
Buffy maintained silence again while she searched for diplomatic words. "She was...she was...like I said, very powerful and, um, beautiful of course, and, uh....."  
  
"Evil?" Connor finished.  
  
"I was hoping to find a better word but yeah. She was really very...dangerous."  
  
"But she loved me," he said softly. "Somehow even though she was evil she was able to love me, because she killed herself so I could be born. That's what Angel says."  
  
He looked sharply at the Slayer, embarrassed that he had shown too much emotion and was surprised to see her eyes glittering with what looked suspiciously like tears.  
  
"Sometimes," she cleared her throat and started again. "Sometimes evil things can love, you know. I didn't used to believe it, but I know better now."  
  
Connor didn't know what she was thinking of while she said it but he was pretty sure it wasn't his mother's sacrifice.  
  
Suddenly he froze, head up scenting the air. The Slayer stilled too, watching as he turned his head slowly from side to side then pointed at three different unseen targets. She nodded in understanding and fell back allowing him space to hunt alone.  
  
The first vampire came bounding over headstones roaring like a drunk Scotsman. With a flick of his wrist, Connor armed himself with the stake he had hidden up his sleeve, balanced lightly, weight spread evenly between both legs and held steady while the inept vampire impaled himself on the stake in his hand. It was so ridiculously easy it was kind of embarrassing and Connor decided to play out the fight a little longer with his next attacker.  
  
The second vampire tackled Connor from behind, driving him face first into the turf and bumping his head against a granite tombstone. Connor twisted to face him then pushed up with his legs, tossing the demon several yards away. He arched himself upright and stood waiting for the vampire to attack again.  
  
The vamp obliged, as did the third assailant who came tearing through the underbrush. The last was a female who quickly proved cleverer than her minions. As Connor drove the second vampire back with blow after blow to head, chest and stomach, she watched for an opportunity then swept Connor's legs out from under him with a graceful kick. He crashed to earth again and the pair of vampires circled him like jungle cats.  
  
"Nice moves, boy," the female vampire purred. "You're a little hottie and I'd be happy to turn you." She leaned toward him and said confidentially, "'Cause between you and me I'm sick of raising litters of boneheads like this guy." She gestured toward her partner.  
  
"Hey!" he whined. "I'm not your lackey. Already told you that. Just cause you made me don't mean you can tell me what to...." He exploded in a shower of dust as Connor rose up and faced off against the leader.  
  
She grinned with a cheery mouthful of perfect white teeth and a deadly pair of fangs. Reaching out she cuffed the side of Connor's head while driving her knee into his solar plexis. He retaliated with a series of blows that spun her around and a vicious kick to her lower back.  
  
"Whoa-ho," she laughed. "Baby got game." She whirled, snarling, leaped on Connor's back and wrapped an arm like an iron band around his throat. Her fangs hovered inches from his neck and Connor was aware of the Slayer starting to move from her hiding place in the shadows. "Come on, sweetie. Let me do it. I'll make you my consort not a minion. You can't imagine the power, the pleasure...." He drove his stake between his arm and body into her stomach. "OW! Damn!"  
  
She loosened her hold to grab at the protruding stake and Connor broke free of her encircling arm, turned and drove his fist into her face, jamming her nose back into her skull. "Fuck!" she screeched, blood pouring down her face. "You wanna play rough? Fine! I'll give you rough."  
  
They fought like angry alley cats for several minutes, Connor unleashing a volley of punches and kicks, which she returned blow for blow. Finally he gave a dramatic leap into the air and aimed a kick at her head that snapped her neck. The vampire crumpled in a heap. Connor retrieved his stake from her stomach and drove it into her heart. She dusted and he rose, brushing ash from his clothes and panting from exertion.  
  
"Impressive," the Slayer approved coming to stand by him. "Angel was right."  
  
"It was sloppy," he demurred. "I work better with a sword than a stake."  
  
"Well, extra points for not having your weapon of choice then." She smiled. "Need to work on your banter though. It's kind of.nonexistent."  
  
He looked at her uncertainly.  
  
"Joke," she explained.  
  
A trace of a smile touched his lips.  
  
Buffy laughed and slapped him on the arm. "Come on. Let's see what other trouble we can stir up."  
  
They walked on into the night.  
  
To be continued.. 


	2. 2

"Connor's Sunnydale Vacation" - Chapter 2 by Bonnie  
  
Disclaimers: All characters belong to Mutant Enemy, etc.  
  
Dawn is annoyed at having to Connor-sit for a whole day but finds some common ground. My altered facts about the end of Season 3 Angel, where Connor doesn't quite send Angel to the bottom of the sea, are sketchily explained. Also, I looked up skateboarding terminology on the net but probably misused it terribly - forgive me.  
  
********  
  
"Please Dawn, don't give me crap about this. I have to work today. You know I have to work, and we can't just leave him sitting around the house all day. I promised Angel he'd have a real vacation."  
  
"Well what am I supposed to do with him? Take him to the mall and get him a haircut?"  
  
"Yes. The mall. That's fine. Anywhere." Buffy grabbed a yogurt from the fridge and dumped it in her lunch bag. She grabbed Dawn by the shoulders and kissed her forehead. "Thank you! Gotta go. I can't be late again."  
  
"And did Daddy Angel leave money to treat his boy to a super-sized Sunnydale vacation?" Dawn asked dryly.  
  
Buffy rummaged through her purse. "Here's twenty bucks. Go to lunch and a movie or something."  
  
Dawn sighed and snatched the bill from her sister's hand. "Yeah, like this is gonna buy two tickets and a meal."  
  
"Well I figured you could pay for yourself," Buffy said sweetly. "You did say you wanted to be treated like a grown up. That's what your job is for, to give you spending money."  
  
"Me' being the key word there. My spending money to use the way I want. I was going to buy a new pair of shoes this week."  
  
"Great. Then Connor can watch you try on shoes."  
  
And that was creepy on so many levels that Dawn didn't even touch it.  
  
"Later." Buffy waved over her shoulder as she went out the back kitchen door.  
  
Dawn took her time pouring a bowl of cereal and glass of orange juice. She shuffled toward the living room in her fuzzy slippers. There Connor sat like an out of place statue that someone else had chosen to decorate their home.  
  
He was dressed exactly the same as the day before except the T and overshirt were in shades of gray instead of brown. Like father, like son, Dawn thought, lords of the monochromatic wardrobe. There was a good-sized bruise blooming on his forehead at the hairline, proof that he and Buffy had seen some action on patrol last night, and the wording of that thought almost set Dawn giggling.  
  
She plopped her glass on the table and her ass on her favorite chair and clicked on morning cartoons. Connor sat and watched. The silence grew increasingly awkward.  
  
Dawn finally remembered her duties as host. "Did you get some breakfast?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Good." Pause. "Well, I thought I'd show you around Sunnydale today."  
  
"The Slayer already did last night."  
  
"Yeah. But I'll show you the actual fun parts of town. It's not all cemeteries and abandoned buildings."  
  
He didn't reply and Dawn abandoned her hostly duties and concentrated on Spongebob.  
  
*********  
  
As they entered the Espresso Pump later that morning, Dawn took a last look around to make sure no one she knew was there. She really didn't want to have to explain Connor's presence or worse yet have him open his mouth and say something eccentric.  
  
They sat at a table in the corner away from the street and Dawn ordered a mint mocha for herself and a plain coffee for Connor because he seemed incapable of making a decision. A slight grimace crossed his face when he tasted the strong brew but he didn't complain.  
  
"You know you can add cream and sugar." Dawn pushed them toward him and watched in amusement as he poured a stream of sugar into the cup, tasted it again then pushed the cup away.  
  
"Here. Try this," she said and offered her mint mocha.  
  
"Summers!" a familiar voice called. Dawn cringed in her seat before turning with a big smile toward Janice, who approached them while gushing, "I've missed you! What have you been doing with yourself?"  
  
Janice pulled an extra stool up to the table and, eyeing Connor, sat down.  
  
"Not a lot," Dawn said. "I have a job now, but other than that I've just been, you know, hanging around. How 'bout you?"  
  
"I went to visit my dad in Florida and that was.less than thrilling. New girlfriend. And basically I just got back. But I did get your message about your birthday next week and I'll be there. It'll be like old times." She looked significantly at Connor. "Who's your friend?"  
  
"Oh right. This is my cousin, Connor. He's visiting from Wyoming." Dawn spewed out her pre-rehearsed lines.  
  
"Cowboy, eh?" Janice examined him some more. "Where's your hat?"  
  
"He doesn't talk much," Dawn answered at the same time that Connor said, "What?"  
  
"Cowboy. Hat." Janice repeated and he looked at her blankly.  
  
"Not from a ranch. His dad owns a hardware store," Dawn continued to weave a story that made him sound as uninteresting as possible, because boys plus Janice equaled trouble. "And," she embellished. "He goes to a 'special' school."  
  
"Oh." Janice's interest instantly evaporated. She turned her attention back to Dawn. "So, what guys have you invited to your party?"  
  
"Tim. Alex. And Ryan and Bryan from where I work." Then, even though Janice hadn't asked, she added, "Also Marie, she's new, and Amber, Trina and Sue."  
  
Janice digested the fact that none of her current friends were coming but that was outweighed by the fact that there would be new boys to meet. She nodded then changed the subject. "Did you hear that the new school might not be ready by fall? I am going to be so pissed if we have to spend another year at Bennington. I can't get on the varsity cheer squad there because to them we'll always be outsiders. We NEED our own school."  
  
"Yeah, I guess there've been some.delays in construction." Dawn thought of the Rafiki demons that had rampaged through the work area a few weeks ago, destroying newly erected walls and causing Buffy and Xander several nights' slaying. "But Xander, you remember him, is head of construction and he's says everything is almost back on schedule now.  
  
Janice heaved an exaggerated sigh. "Well, that's good because I don't think my social life could take another year at Bennington."  
  
Silence fell. Janice glanced at Connor to see if he was drooling or exhibiting any other 'special' behaviors. She found him staring back at her with piercing blue eyes that made her feel exposed and just.creepy.  
  
"All right then." She jumped off her stool. "I've got to go. Nona is meeting me at La Boutique for facials. But I'll see you next week if not before." She leaned in and gave Dawn a sudden, sincere hug. "I really have missed you. We used to have great times."  
  
Dawn smiled. "Remember when we tied our Kens to the spokes of our bikes and rode up and down the street 'torturing' them until the Barbies came to the rescue?"  
  
"Or when we decided Mrs. Brown was too mean to own a dog so we stole hers and kept it hidden in my room for two days. Even though our moms made us apologize, she never stopped giving us the evil eye every time we passed her house."  
  
The girls laughed, then awkward silence fell.  
  
"See ya." Janice gave a little wave goodbye, avoiding eye contact with Connor and left.  
  
He continued to watch her out the door then turned back to Dawn. "That's your friend?"  
  
His tone sounded dismissive so Dawn replied aggressively. "Yeah. Why?"  
  
He shook his head. "Nothing."  
  
"No. You started it. What?"  
  
"She doesn't.seem like a friend."  
  
"What do you know? You just got to this world. How many friends do you have?" she demanded belligerently.  
  
"None," he answered. "But I've seen how my fa.Angel and Fred and Gunn are together. And how they've never given up looking for Cordelia week after week whenever they're not on another case, even though they don't have any clues.."  
  
"Hold up! Cordy's missing? Nobody told me this," Dawn interrupted. A sudden vivid faux memory of Buffy's occasional friend braiding her hair one evening when she was thirteen flashed in her mind. "When did this happen?"  
  
"Two months ago. The same night I captured Angel."  
  
"God. No one tells me anything? You did what with Angel?"  
  
Connor's voice was as hard as concrete and emotionless as the Terminator as he explained what he had planned for Angel and how Holtz' accomplice, Justine had broken at the last minute and spilled the truth about Angel's total non-involvement in Holtz' death. Connor said he'd come close to killing her right then but Angel had talked him down.  
  
Dawn was silent, digesting Connor's Soprano-like story of revenge. She remembered how betrayed she had felt when she discovered Buffy and her mom were withholding the truth about her Keyness and considered that raising an innocent child to be the tool of your vengeance was a hundred times worse. Unable to express everything she was thinking, Dawn condensed it into two words dripping with all the venom she possessed, "Lying sucks!"  
  
Connor nodded and another of those ghostly almost-smiles touched his lips at her vehemence. For just an instant Dawn thought that maybe she was wrong about him being unattractive. She shook off the thought and turned the conversation to safer channels.  
  
"So.Janice. Yeah, she's not my best friend anymore but she's still a friend. There are levels," she explained to friendless Connor. "There are people who'd lay down their life for you. And there are people you just hang out and do fun stuff with. Then there are old friends like Janice, who you don't spend time with anymore but who used to know you like a sister." She thought of what Xander and Willow were to Buffy. "And if you're really lucky, you'll find someone who can be all three."  
  
Connor remained silent, watching her.  
  
"It takes time to make a good friend. "You'll find somebody eventually," she counseled.  
  
Starting to feel uncomfortable under his gaze, Dawn looked around the room.  
  
"Hey, foosball table's free. Come on." She led him to the game in the opposite corner of the coffee shop.  
  
"See, you're red and I'm blue. You grab these handles and try to kick the ball in the slot at the opposite end. That one's your goal."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"What why? Because it's fun! It's a game, Connor. You're supposed to pit your skill and reflexes against the other person."  
  
"But I already know I'm faster than you," he stated coolly. "There's no competition!"  
  
"Reaally?" Dawn smiled evilly, lining her little men up the way she liked them. "Who's been playing foosball since she was eight and who's been chopping things up with big hefty axes? It's all about fine motor control my friend."  
  
She dropped the ball and spun her players.  
  
*********  
  
Emerging from the Espresso Pump an hour later, overheated and laughing, Dawn was crowing her victory.  
  
"You don't mess with the Foosball Queen, baby," she said gleefully.  
  
Connor followed, frowning, in her wake. "It's a pointless game. It doesn't mean anything."  
  
"No it doesn't, so it must not bother you that I WON five straight games. Hah. Take that Mr. Perfect Reflexes."  
  
Connor continued pouting as they entered the park, passing the skateboarding area. His attention was caught by the swooping, flying kids on their boards, hollering to one another as they soared like birds or crashed and burned.  
  
"Pretty cool, huh," Dawn said, coming to stand by him and seeing the exhibition through a newcomer's eyes. "You know, you'd probably be good at that." She turned and saw his eyes were alight and riveted on the action.  
  
"Hey, I know that guy from school," she said, pointing. "I bet he'd let you give it a try if I asked."  
  
Connor shook his head, but Dawn was already calling out. "Alex. Hey!"  
  
A dreadlocked boy in an oversize sweatshirt rolled over to them and stopped with a flip of his board, which he caught neatly in one hand. "Hey," he responded.  
  
"So, are you coming to my party next week or what?" she asked. "Sue will be there."  
  
"Yeah?" His studiously laid-back manner slipped and a shard of interest showed through. "That's cool."  
  
"Look, this is my cousin Connor from Wyoming. They don't do skateboarding there, but I think he'd like to give it a try if you could give him a few pointers and let him use your board for a couple of minutes."  
  
Alex looked the other youth up and down, obviously not thrilled about lending his board to a stranger, but he shrugged and handed it over. "Yeah. All right."  
  
Dawn found a place to sit and watched Connor moving from straight boarding to kickflips and tailslides all within fifteen minutes. She had to admit the kid had balance.  
  
"Dawn!" a strident voice stole her attention from the skateboarders.  
  
"Anya! Hey, how are you? You look great." Dawn hung back from giving the former-but-now-reinstated vengeance demon a big hug. She wasn't quite sure where the Scoobies stood on the subject of Anya right now.  
  
"I know," Anya replied, smiling brightly and smoothing her hands over her lovely tailored suit. "I'm a Mary Kay consultant, which is a surprisingly profitable business as well as giving me access to plenty of new vengeance clients."  
  
"Oh," Dawn was nonplussed. Was this the kind of information she should rush straight back to Buffy? A vengeance demon, even one as charming as Anya, was nothing to take lightly.  
  
"And what about you?" Anya continued looking toward the skate park. "Do you have a new boyfriend or just a crush on one of the skateboarding 'dudes'." Her nose wrinkled in amusement at her correct usage of teen slang.  
  
"Skate dude? No," Dawn stammered. "I'm here with my, uh, cousin Connor." She gestured to the boy, who was swooping up into a grind like he'd been doing it his whole life.. She decided it was easier to make Connor her cousin than to explain the whole Angel connection.  
  
"Ah, I see. And how is.everyone else," Anya's smile dimmed as she asked after the welfare of the rest of the gang.  
  
"You mean, how's Xander?" Dawn decided to break through the bullshit since Anya usually respected that. "You should ask him yourself. You've gotta know he misses you."  
  
Anya shrugged and said dryly, "I haven't heard it from him."  
  
"Well, trust me, he does," Dawn continued. She spread her hands palms out. "But hey.that's for you guys to work out." She changed the subject. "As for Buffy, she's working a lot of hours and keeping busy with the slaying. And Willow.."  
  
"Yes, how IS Willow," Anya's tone grew even more acidic. "Still on vacation in England?"  
  
"Anya, you know it's not a vacation. She's in recovery."  
  
"Right. Because the Slayer only kills vampires and demons but not evil witches who ruin stores, hurt their friends, then try to destroy the whole world. Maybe all 'evil things' just need to be in a substance abuse program. What do you think?"  
  
"Could you be any more bitter?" Dawn crossed her arms defensively, feeling like she should say something on Buffy's behalf but finding nothing.  
  
"Yes. I believe I could be if I worked on it, but this is the new me. I'm all about moving on and forgetting I ever knew Xander Harris or any of his friends."  
  
"Okaay," Dawn frowned. "Then why are you talking to me?"  
  
"I.Uh.I don't know," Anya admitted. "But it was a beautiful sunny day, and there you were, and I thought, 'Oh, someone I know to run into at the park. How pleasant.'"  
  
Dawn gave her a solemn look. "You miss us. Not just Xander but hanging out with all of us. Being a vengeance demon doesn't really get you friends, does it?"  
  
"You are an annoyingly direct little girl with delusions of being a psychotherapist," Anya huffed, frowning. "So.go back to your skateboard watching and forget I stopped to say 'hello'!" She stalked off with a furl of pink skirt and clicking high heels.  
  
Dawn didn't know whether to smile or frown. Just then Connor came panting up next to her, sweating and grinning broadly.  
  
"You liked the skateboarding?" she stated the obvious. "Thought you would."  
  
Connor's eyes were sparkling, and Dawn thought, 'So that's what they mean when they say someone's eyes are dancing.' She couldn't help but smile back and tease a little. "You'll have to ask Daddy to buy you a skateboard when you get home."  
  
Instantly the smile was extinguished from his face like an eraser passing over a chalkboard. His eyes went from bright and blue to narrow and dark as if they'd been shuttered. Dawn's heart clenched, feeling like she'd kicked a baby squirrel or something. Father issues obviously abounded in Connor's head. She backpedaled, trying to save the situation.  
  
"I mean, you're really good at it, and I'm, uh, sure Angel would like you to take a break from killing things and have a little fun." She breezed on since there was nothing else to do. "Anyway, we can come back to the park tomorrow and rollerblade. You'll probably like that too."  
  
Connor walked beside her in silence. Dawn fished around in her head for something else a boy would like to do. All she could come up with was a memory of her little friend Greg, back when she was six, who was obsessed with Bob the Builder. The kid had played exclusively with toy dump trucks, front-end loaders, and every other possible type of earthmoving or building equipment.  
  
"I have an idea. We'll go see Xander at work," she declared, and led Connor out of the park and through downtown Sunnydale. She pointed out the ruins of the Magic Box and explained some of what had transpired last spring. They paused at the display window of the retro shop where the cool boots Dawn wanted were still unpurchased, thank God. They passed the Doublemeat Palace where Buffy was slaving away; the newly renovated hotel where Glory had once resided; the Sunnydale U. campus where Dawn explained about the Initiative caves that ran beneath.  
  
Finally, after a good forty-five minute walk they reached the construction site for the new high school. Hard-hatted workers swarmed over the mostly finished building while crews with everything ranging from bulldozers to hand shovels worked feverishly on the landscaping. A chain link fence had been erected to keep would-be juvenile delinquents and 'gangs on PCP' from invading the site at night and making it their playground. Dawn had just decided that coming here was a stupid idea since they couldn't enter the work area and she had no idea how to contact Xander, when she caught sight of him walking across the broken soil of what would eventually be the front lawn of the school.  
  
"Hey!" she screeched, waving an arm wildly. "Over here!"  
  
Xander's face broke into a smile as he saw them. "Dawnie, what brings you to school in the middle of summer vacation?" he said as he approached.  
  
Dawn gestured at Connor. "I thought he might be interested in how things are built. Guys dig that kind of stuff, right?"  
  
Xander paused and checked his watch. "Sure. What the heck. I can give you a quick tour." He motioned them toward an opening in the fence.  
  
Connor managed to look neither interested nor bored, just kind of blank, as he obediently followed Dawn and Xander. But as Xander led them around and pointed out all sorts of details of structure and building process, which sounded to Dawn like 'blah-diddy-blah-supports-blah-underlayment-blah', Connor began to come alive again. Tuning out Xander's monologue, Dawn watched those really quite amazing blue eyes examine everything Xander pointed to, head nodding in comprehension and amazement at man's ingenuity.  
  
About the time Dawn decided she was going to start crying if she had to look at one more vaulted whatever, Xander declared that he had to get back to work and sent them off.  
  
"You stopping by for dinner?" Dawn asked, knowing the answer. Xander had been a regular guest all summer long. Dawn figured he dreaded going home to an empty apartment because he usually stayed late into the evening.  
  
"Yeah, I'll be there," he acknowledged and waved goodbye.  
  
As they walked toward home, Connor was silent, which wasn't such a big surprise. But Dawn was beginning to be able to differentiate between his various types of silence and this one bespoke gears turning in his head.  
  
"What?" she finally asked.  
  
He shook his head. "Nothing."  
  
"No. Something. I can tell. So spill."  
  
"I just wondered if.... Is Xander in love with the Slayer?" he asked, casting her a sideways look.  
  
"What?!" Dawn exploded.  
  
"He comes by your house often, doesn't he?"  
  
"Well, yeah, but he's like our brother. He doesn't.... It's not like that!"  
  
"I see," Connor shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I was just curious."  
  
"Besides," Dawn surged on. "Even if he felt something, which he doesn't. Buffy's already in love with...." She could hardly say 'your father', which would open a whole cafeteria sized can of worms. Besides Dawn didn't even know if it was true anymore - not after that night she came home and caught her sister sitting by the front hall closet with Spike's duster in her lap, crying. Buffy's heart was a whole world of weird, beyond Dawn's fathoming, but she was pretty sure Xander only occupied a brother-shaped space in it. "Someone else," she concluded, lamely.  
  
"Okay," he agreed amiably.  
  
She started to walk faster as if trying to physically leave the topic behind. "Come on. I have to get home and clean up the house before Buffy gets back. Then we can start dinner. You're good at cutting things up, right? Big ogres? Little carrots 'n'onions?"  
  
She looked over and Connor favored her with an almost-smile again. "Yes," he said. "I can chop."  
  
"Good. Then maybe you can clean, too." Dawn was beginning to see possibilities in having a houseguest.  
  
"Dawn?" Connor interrupted the silence after a bit.  
  
"Huh?" She was startled to hear him actually use her name.  
  
"What is a cousin?" He frowned, then added, "And where is Wyoming?"  
  
To be continued.... 


	3. 3

"Connor's Sunnydale Vacation" - Chapter 3 by BonnieD  
  
Connor's feeling at loose ends, as who doesn't when their vacation begins to drag? But things heat up one evening. (In my world Connor doesn't know how to read. How could he? What could Holtz have taught him from? I really didn't like the way the show made him so quickly adaptable to 20th Century living. Also in my AU there were no other humans in Quor-toth so his comprehension of social relations is limited.)  
  
************  
  
Connor felt itchy and impatient, restless as a caged Grathnik - not that he had ever caged a Grathnick, just hacked them up. Both of the Summers women were at work today and he'd been left to his own devices, told to sleep late and lounge the day away. Connor didn't do lounging.  
  
He had spent the morning and part of the afternoon walking the streets of Sunnydale, but there was nothing to see, nothing to kill. He returned to the house in mid-afternoon and tidied a few small messes in various rooms, stared at the television until the quickly moving images began to give him a headache, then wandered over to the lone shelf of books in the living room. He chose one at random and paged through it, recognizing the letters Fred had taught him but wasn't able to pick out more than a few words here and there. He returned the book to the shelf then flopped down on his back on the couch, arms crossed over his chest, and stared at the ceiling.  
  
He missed Fred, the only person who seemed to have any idea what it was like to be pulled away from everything he had ever known and dropped into this world. He missed Gunn, who sparred with him every day and told Connor stories about what it was like growing up in his neighborhood. He missed ... Los Angeles, where there was always something interesting to do, day and night. He wondered exactly why Angel had sent him away and whether they were any closer to finding out what had happened to Cordy.  
  
Connor admitted to himself that he could have fought harder to stay; that if he had truly wanted to be in L.A. there was nothing Angel could have done to make him go. But a part of him was curious about life outside the big city, wanted to see what the rest of this world was like and of course, wanted to meet the famed Vampire Slayer who had allowed Angel to live.  
  
And now he knew. This was 'normal' human life. People got up, worked at various jobs, ate meals, engaged in a little recreation and went back to bed again. In the Slayer's house that recreation included a bit of demon fighting but not nearly enough for Connor's taste. He really missed the hunt.  
  
He sighed and rolled over onto his side, staring now at the block of sunlight shining from the window onto the worn carpet. Late afternoon now. Both Dawn and Buffy should be back soon. Connor was surprised to feel his spirits lift at the idea.  
  
He had to admit that parts of this vacation had been worthwhile. Dawn had determinedly made every effort to show him some of the things the average American teen did for fun. Over the past few days he had bowled, rollerbladed, played arcade and video games, watched movies and ridden in go-karts.  
  
On one horrible day Dawn had even dragged him to the mall, where he was forced to trail after her from shop to shop while she found him The Perfect Shirt. He ended up being forced to wear some bright blue, button down thing, a color and style which made no sense for someone stalking and slaying.  
  
"Connor, work with me here," she said. "Your mind is in a little box. We need to stretch that box. Repeat after me, 'There's more to life than hunting and killing. There are activities that require clothes other than demon skins and colors other than black or brown.' Got it?" She held the shirt up against him one more time and eyed it critically. "Besides, the blue really does do amazing things for your eyes."  
  
He didn't know what that meant, but something about her warm tone made him feel warm himself. Hot and uncomfortable as a matter of fact. He decided it was the stuffy air of the mall making him feel so lightheaded and was glad they had found The Perfect Shirt so they could finally leave.  
  
So yes, being entertained by Dawn during the day and fighting beside the Slayer at night wasn't a bad way to spend time. Connor just missed that sense of ... purpose he had felt in L.A. Sunnydale didn't seem to be exactly crawling with vamps or demons, hellmouth or not.  
  
The front door slammed and Connor, unaware that he had drifted off, jerked awake.  
  
"Hey, lazy ass," Dawn greeted him cheerfully from the front hall. "Must be nice to lay around all day." She tossed her bagger apron on the stair banister and entered the living room. Flinging herself into her favorite armchair, she sighed dramatically and kicked off her shoes. "My feet are dead! I am never standing again. So...what'd you find to do today?"  
  
Connor sat up, strangely embarrassed to be caught napping. He shrugged in answer to her question. "Not much."  
  
"Boring day, huh?" she commiserated sarcastically. "Poor baby." A sly smile crept across her face. "Well, don't worry, Buffy and I have something special planned for tonight."  
  
"What?" he asked, nervous at her tone.  
  
"You'll see," she replied mysteriously. "Don't worry. You'll like it...and you'll get a chance to wear your new shirt."  
  
Laughing at his frown, she added. "Trust me."  
  
**********  
  
Later that evening Connor's suspicion that trusting people always led to trouble was confirmed. Dawn and Buffy's diabolical plan was revealed when they led him into the Bronze, a local club. They intended to teach him to dance. Connor drew the line and emphatically refused to let his butt part company from his chair. After harassing him for a while, the sisters gave up and went out on the dance floor by themselves.  
  
He watched them move sinuously to the music and thought that Dawn had a natural grace that would make her a good fighter if she wasn't so mortal and weak. The pair was soon lost from sight in the throng and Connor's eyes wandered around the room, taking in the people, as he sipped his drink. He was still not used to the sheer number of other human beings in this dimension and sometimes it was overwhelming.  
  
"Hey there." Xander dropped into the seat across from him, shouldering off his jacket. "Where is everybody?"  
  
Connor nodded toward the dance floor.  
  
Xander glanced over, then back to Connor. "And why aren't you out there? I thought the purpose of the evening was your education in native courtship rituals?"  
  
"What?" He frowned in confusion.  
  
"Dancing," Xander explained. "What do you think it is?" He answered himself. "A prelude to mating."  
  
Connor looked at the milling crowd, zeroed in on an especially spectacular brunette who was writhing her ass against her partner's crotch and suddenly saw the parallel to demons he had seen rutting in Quor-toth. He watched in fascination.  
  
"They will do it right there?" he asked innocently.  
  
"What?" Xander's eyes followed his gaze to the grinding couple. "Oh. Well, no. I didn't mean literally.... I mean, I was just kind of joking." He retooled his ill-conceived statement. "Dancing is like...um...a celebration of life. It's just for fun and it doesn't really mean anything. You want to shoot some pool?"  
  
Connor followed him to the table where Xander racked up the balls as he explained the game. He handed Connor a cue then demonstrated how to use it, or misuse it since he scratched on his first shot after the break.  
  
Taking cue in hand, Connor proceeded to effortlessly clear the table of solids.  
  
"Quick learner," Xander gritted out in annoyance. "Did Angel already show you how?"  
  
"No." Connor sighted down the cue and gently flicked the green ball into the side pocket. He straightened and looked for his next shot. "But it's like shooting arrows."  
  
"There you guys are!" Dawn's voice sounded from behind him, making him miss his shot. He turned with a frown. "You lost our seats," she complained then added. "Buffy's up at the bar getting us more drinks."  
  
Xander took his turn, while Connor leaned on his cue and watched and Dawn gave unwanted advice on Xander's technique.  
  
After a few minutes Buffy returned with beverages in hand just as Connor claimed victory over the pool table. She passed sodas to Dawn and Connor, set her own drink aside and picked up a cue.  
  
"Ready for an ass-whupping, Xander?" she challenged.  
  
"If it's the kind where I reclaim my dignity and wipe up the floor with you, then yeah," he countered.  
  
"Pool isn't a spectator sport. I'm bored already." Dawn pulled at Connor's arm. "Come on. Let's dance."  
  
"No." He shrugged her off and retreated a pace.  
  
"Are you crazy?" Xander said, shaking his head at Connor. "When a pretty girl asks you to dance you never turn her down."  
  
Connor looked at Dawn, who was standing arms crossed and one eyebrow raised. "Chicken?" she snapped.  
  
He wasn't sure what it meant but it sounded like an insult so he scowled.  
  
"Come on," she said, holding out her hand. Before he could respond to the fight or flight imperative which was telling him to run like hell, he found himself taking that hand and following her onto the dance floor. His eyes darted around the milling throng, seeking an escape route.  
  
"This is a slow dance. It's real easy," she said then snapped her fingers in front of his face to get his attention. "Focus! Now put your left hand on my waist. Our right hands go together - like this."  
  
He obediently placed his hand lightly on her waist. Her body felt hot beneath the thin fabric of her tank top and when she smoothed her left hand up his chest to his shoulder it left a tingling in its wake. Their joined palms were also hot and a little sweaty. He stood stiffly, waiting for her next direction.  
  
"That's it. Now just kind of move back and forth." She added after a few moments of shuffling, "WITH the beat of the music."  
  
Connor's face was flaming with humiliation. Surely these people could see how wrong he was, how he didn't belong. But when he glanced quickly around, no one was looking at him. Every couple was leaning into one another and swaying. Some were a polite arm's length apart and even talking together as they moved. Others were melted together like candle wax. The pair who had been moving so sensuously in unison earlier were now engaged in a huge argument, screaming into each other's faces on the edge of the dance floor.  
  
Dawn moved a pace closer to him and his whole attention was immediately riveted on their own dance. His arm automatically went further around her waist and it suddenly felt like there was a whole lot more girl there invading his personal space. He could feel her hair tickling the side of his jaw and see it fluttering when touched by his quickly exhaled breath. Inhaling, he could smell her; soap and perfume underlain by girl scent.  
  
Dawn disentangled her hand from his and moved it onto his other shoulder. This left him with a free hand that didn't know what else to do but grab on to her other hip. And then there she was, head resting lightly on his chest as they continued to move back and forth. He could feel his pulse pounding in his ears and figured the beat of it in his chest must be deafening her. He didn't want her to know how much the nearness of her body affected him so he concentrated on slowing his pulse, breathing evenly in and out. And he concentrated on not brushing his groin against her lest she feel his response there.  
  
Connor could count on one hand the number of times he had been this physically close to another person, fighting excluded. His false father had occasionally clapped him on the shoulder for a job well done but hugging was not something the reserved man indulged in. Since coming to this world, Connor had received one kiss from the girl, Sunny, who had taken him in when he was lost and alone; one soul-shattering touch from White Light Cordelia which culminated in him sobbing in her arms like an infant; and one aborted hug from Angel as they walked from the stadium following a night baseball game. Connor had pushed away after a second of contact but could still feel the weight of Angel's arm around him and smell the leather of his coat hours later.  
  
From what he had seen and heard all around him in this world and experienced himself in a limited way, Connor quickly came to the conclusion that human touch was a powerful thing. And that it stole power from you, made you weak, and was probably best avoided.  
  
Snapping back to the present, Connor realized that he and Dawn were barely moving now. With a conscious effort he restarted his feet, shuffling clumsily from side to side, and stilled his hands, which had been roaming of their own volition over Dawn's back and just brushing the top of her buttocks.  
  
Dawn pulled back and tilted her face up toward him. She smiled in that evil way he had come to know over the past several days. It was the Victory Smile he'd first seen after they played foosball, the smile which crowed as clearly as words, 'I won and you lost!'  
  
"So what do you think of dancing now?" she said. "Kinda fun, huh?"  
  
"It's okay," he answered coolly then looked away from her and around the room to show how unaffected he was.  
  
"Ri-ight," she drawled then added, "Mr. Runaway Hands."  
  
Connor felt himself blushing, yet another thing that had been unknown to him until he came to this benighted human world. The music ended then and Dawn stepped away leaving a vacuum behind.  
  
"I have to go to the rest room," she said. "You can go watch the exciting pool match of death now if you want."  
  
He released a slow, shaky breath as he watched her walk away. Looking around the thinning crowd on the dance floor, Connor frowned and shook his head then made his way back toward Xander and Buffy. On the way he passed the arguing couple, who were now ensconced on one of the couches, writhing against each other as they kissed. He frowned again. Human behavior was beyond comprehension. He felt the need to kill something and fast.  
  
"Are you going to patrol later?" he asked, a little too loudly, as he approached the pool players.  
  
Buffy scratched her shot and gave him an annoyed glance. "Wasn't planning on it. That's the whole point of a night off - you get the night off."  
  
"I could go," he insisted. "You don't have to."  
  
"That's all right. There's always more evil to fight another day - or night."  
  
"And another, and another, and another...." Xander chimed in, as he lined up his shot.  
  
Connor stood restlessly, watching them play. He picked up a blue cube of chalk and began passing it back and forth between his hands.  
  
"What happened to Dawn?" Buffy asked after a moment, when his fidgeting caught her attention.  
  
He nodded toward the restrooms. "She...."  
  
"Oh." Buffy, biting her lip thoughtfully, watched him toy with the pool chalk for a beat. "Look. Why don't you drink up your Coke and then go ask one of those pretty girls at that table over there for a dance? You don't have to hang with us all the time. Have some fun."  
  
Connor looked at the table she had pointed out where the girls were indeed pretty and shook his head, but he did pick up his drink and sip it so she wouldn't think he was ungrateful. He found a chair nearby that someone had just vacated, leaving it warm and ripe with their scent, and he tried to shut out some of the throbbing noise of the place. Everything was so loud and rich and ... busy when humans were packed together so close. It was almost more than Connor's acute senses could stand.  
  
"I think he's a little overwhelmed by all of this," he could hear Xander saying quietly to Buffy.  
  
"We'll leave after Dawn gets back," she replied.  
  
It amused Connor that everyone always forgot how keen his hearing was. Well, amused and annoyed. He was actually kind of tired of hearing people discuss him, of hearing himself being called 'a freak,' 'creepy,' 'weird,' 'screwed up,' 'alienated,' 'socially impaired,' 'dangerous' or 'sulky,' depending on the speaker. The only thing that made it any easier was the fact that humans, in general, seemed to spend much of their time discussing anyone who wasn't in the room, so he was hardly being singled out.  
  
He took another sip of his Coke and looked toward the back of the Bronze, waiting for Dawn to emerge. Five minutes slid by.  
  
The pool game ended with Xander the elated winner of five bucks. He chugged down a celebratory beer.  
  
Buffy glanced back to the restrooms and grew an impatient scowl. "What is keeping that girl? I'll be right back." She worked her way through the crowded club and disappeared into the ladies' room.  
  
Connor sat up straighter in his chair, barely listening to Xander extol the virtues of whatever lager he was drinking. All sound blended into a discordant background hum, as Connor focused his attention on the door through which the Slayer had gone. He stood up. His senses were screaming that something was very wrong and the suspicion was confirmed a few seconds later when Buffy emerged without Dawn and began looking around the club.  
  
Connor started toward her, the crowd parting like Ben and J-Lo before his determined stride.  
  
"Hey! Wait up!" He vaguely heard Xander's voice trailing behind him. In a moment he had reached Buffy's side.  
  
"She's not in there," her voice was tense. "I don't see her anywhere? Do you?"  
  
Connor, who had already scanned the building, shook his head. Then he lifted his head and closed his eyes, trying to eliminate all other scents and concentrate on traces of Dawn, but the place was too crowded. He opened his eyes, looked at Buffy and shook his head again.  
  
"Dawn's missing," Buffy explained to Xander, who had just chuffed up.  
  
"Well, are you sure? Maybe she just...."  
  
"There!" Connor pointed past Buffy to the dingy hall beyond the bathrooms, which led to an exit. The door was slightly ajar, wedged open by the trapped heel of Dawn's abandoned shoe.  
  
To be continued.... 


	4. 4

"Connor's Sunnydale Vacation" - Chapter 4  
  
Dawn's rescue.  
  
*********  
  
Connor moved swiftly down the street following his nose, Buffy flanking his left and Xander trailing behind. Connor wondered why Xander was even with them. He was overweight, huffing in his efforts to keep up, and he was a little drunk. Connor didn't think he'd be much use in a fight and might even be a hindrance.  
  
Pausing at the next street corner, he scanned the area for signs of Dawn and her captor. There had been a few drops of blood spattered in the alley by the door where they had found Dawn's shoe, from which Connor had been able to trace her scent for several blocks. But now, when they should be getting closer and the scent should be stronger, it suddenly disappeared. He dropped to one knee and examined the ground, leaned in close to try to breathe in Dawn again, but she was just ... gone.  
  
He looked up at the Slayer. "I'm sorry. I can't...."  
  
"Look at this!" Xander interrupted, trotting to the curb and pointing down at the road. "Pile of cigarette butts and skid marks where a car pulled away fast. Someone's picked them up."  
  
Buffy nodded agreement and Connor felt like a fool for missing the obvious clue. If it had been animal tracks in grass or even on stony ground, he would have caught it immediately. Could even have said without a shadow of doubt what kind of beast had dragged her off.  
  
"All right then," Buffy said thoughtfully. "Someone was expecting them. This wasn't a random attack. It seems like they were specifically after Dawn." Lips pressed in a grim line, she exchanged significant looks with Xander. "It's hell being related to the Slayer. Maybe I should appoint her a permanent bodyguard when we get her back."  
  
She and Xander turned as one and headed back up the street. This time Connor walked behind.  
  
"But.... How do we track her?" he asked, confused.  
  
"We don't," Buffy said curtly as she marched along. "We go home, get weapons ready, hit the books, see if there's some once in a lifetime demon feast day coming up. And we hope the kidnapper contacts us soon."  
  
"We'll call Giles and Willow," Xander added. "Get them researching."  
  
Buffy nodded.  
  
"Don't worry, Buff." Connor heard Xander say quietly. "We'll work it out. We always do."  
  
*********  
  
Connor examined the blade Buffy had handed him. He fingered the nice sharp edge then whirled it around once or twice to feel the weight and balance and how the grip fit his hand. It was a good weapon. But if he didn't get a chance to use it soon he was going to fly out of his skin. He glanced over at Buffy, who was pacing and talking on the phone, and Xander, who was seated and looking hopelessly at the stacks of books that surrounded him.  
  
This was a pointless waste of time. Every second they spent inactive was another second Dawn could be moving closer to death or being sadistically tortured or ritually sacrificed or eaten alive or....  
  
A huge stone came crashing through the living room window and landed on the floor.  
  
"Bingo!" Buffy said. "Hold on a second, Giles. We have incoming ransom note. I'll call you back."  
  
"Deja vu, anyone?" Xander quipped as he retrieved the rock, unbound the message and handed it to Buffy.  
  
"Slayer. Tonight. 2:15. Restfield Cemetery. Boreanz crypt. Come alone," she read aloud.  
  
"2:15?" Xander questioned.  
  
Buffy shrugged. She looked at the clock on the bookshelf. "Almost 1:00? Well, at least they gave us plenty of time to plan."  
  
"Connor," she called and started when he answered from right behind her, "Yes?"  
  
"Okay, you're on stealth watch. I'm sending you in early to scope out the area, see who shows up. Or maybe they're already there. Either way." She handed him a cell phone. "You've patrolled Restfield with me. You know that little wooded ridge in the center of the cemetery? When you're done looking around, park yourself there and check in with us." He nodded and turned to leave.  
  
"And Connor." He looked back over his shoulder. "Don't go Rambo on me," she cautioned. "Just recon and report. I don't want anything to happen to Dawn because you had a brainstorm and tried to pull something on your own. Got it?" Her voice rang with authority and Connor slowly inclined his head again.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Good."  
  
Without another word Connor vanished through the front door.  
  
"Must be genetic," Xander mumbled to himself. "They're as spooky as black cats."  
  
**********  
  
Dawn came to with a blinding headache and the taste of coppery blood and dirty rag in her mouth. Crap! Kidnapped again. Without opening her eyes, she listened to the sound of her captors arguing. No need to alert them to the fact that she was conscious before finding out all she could about their plan.  
  
"...is good enough, dammit! Why do you always have to take these stupid risks? Why can't you ever be happy with what you've got?" a female voice complained. "We had a simple plan. It worked. But now you have to go and...."  
  
"Shut up!" a Bluto-sized voice roared. "Bitch, this was ALWAYS the plan. I just didn't tell you about it because I knew you'd start your yapping. The girl may have some watered down version of Slayer blood in her but it's not the same thing. It's like comparing piss to Andecker. I want the gold label stuff not some cheap knock off."  
  
"But I tasted her," the woman continued. "She's delicious - not like anything you've ever drunk."  
  
"Fine. While I'm feasting on the Slayer, you can finish off little Brittany here."  
  
'Blood. It's always about the blood,' Dawn thought. 'Key blood. Slayer blood. Whatever. We're just so damn special!' Her mind paused then added, 'And where does he get off calling me Brittany? What the hell?'  
  
She ventured to slit one eye to check out the layout of her prison. It looked like the basement of Spike's old crypt - the way it used to be before he fixed it up and then Buffy blew it up. Okay, we're in a mausoleum then. Check. She was grateful to find that she wasn't chained to a wall or anything, just bound hand and foot with rope and tossed into a corner on top of some poky things that she had a horrible feeling were old bones. Peeking with both eyes now she could see the backs of the vampire couple holding her captive. They were still engaged in heated debate and didn't know she was awake yet.  
  
Now if this crypt were anything like Spike's it might lead into the ridiculously complex underground tunnel/cave/sewer system that riddled Sunnydale. She cautiously craned her aching neck around to scan the shadowy corners of the rough-hewn room. Maybe she could roll or crawl away while they argued. Her heart sank. None of the shadows looked deep enough to be a tunnel opening.  
  
Upstairs the door to the crypt opened and slammed shut again, and two voices could be heard exchanging greetings. "Greg's back," one of the voices called down. "The message is delivered."  
  
"All right," Bluto bellowed. "Now I want you two guys to go station yourselves where I said, one by the north gate and one up the hill. If the Slayer sends any of her minions ahead of her, you take care of 'em. I don't want any surprises. Then I want you to be ready to move in behind the Slayer when I take her down."  
  
"Right," another voice, which must be Greg, growled.  
  
Heavy footsteps clomped away above their heads.  
  
"That's it? That's the extent of your 'plan'?" the whiny girlfriend began again. "Attack the Slayer and hold her while those two bozos shackle her? And then what - we keep her as a pet?"  
  
"Hot Slayer blood on tap day and night," Bluto confirmed. "We feed her a little something now and then to keep her healthy and we feast for weeks!"  
  
"I can't believe this," Whiny moaned to herself. "I was the CEO of one of the largest companies in L.A. before I got turned and was reduced to following an idiot like you."  
  
There was the sound of a slap, followed by snarls and punches as the verbal battle turned physical. Dawn began writhing like an inchworm toward the ladder. She glanced up in time to see petite little Whiny throw Bluto against the wall. She started crawling faster.  
  
"Damn it, baby, why do you have to give me so much trouble? Why can't you ever support me?" Bluto raged.  
  
Whiny got batted across the room and landed on top of Dawn. The vampire scrambled up and screamed at her mate. "Maybe if you weren't such an obtuse, pig-headed...." She stopped her rant and looked down at Dawn, who had curled up like a pillbug and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to feign unconsciousness again.  
  
"I put you in the corner. How'd you get over here?" She kicked Dawn in the side - hard.  
  
"Ooff."  
  
"Hey. Open your eyes. I know you're awake."  
  
Dawn abandoned her pretense and glared up at the pretty woman who had asked her for one of her Altoids as they primped in front of the mirrors in the Bronze' restroom.  
  
"So what do you think? Will Brad's stupid plan work? Will your sister come for you?"  
  
"Of course," Dawn spat. "And she'll turn the pair of you into road grit, but not before she pulls your spinal columns out through your rectums!"  
  
Whiny laughed. "That's what I thought. See, Brad? Even the kid knows this is a stupid idea."  
  
"Enough," Brad thundered. "Look. All you gotta do is hold the girl, fangs to throat, while I take care of the Slayer. She's not going to make a move while her sister's in danger. Humans are dumb like that - even the Slayer. While we've got the girl, we've got the power."  
  
Whiny suddenly capitulated. "Whatever." Dawn wondered what the woman's personal agenda was because Dawn doubted that she would really cave that easily.  
  
Brad, like most males however, took what his woman said at face value and grunted an acknowledgment of her defeat. The female vampire wandered over to her purse and began rummaging until she produced a tube of lipstick, which she started to apply.  
  
"God, not having a reflection sucks," she whined, when she was finished. "I must look like a clown half the time. How's my eyeliner?" She held her face up for her boyfriend to examine.  
  
"Fine, baby," he said without looking. He was starting to pace nervously. "I hope those morons are doing what I told them." He looked at his watch. "Only 1:30! Why the hell did I tell the Slayer 2:15?"  
  
***********  
  
Connor reached the cemetery wall at the same time as the vampire he was tailing. He had been on his way to Restfield when he noticed the furtive figure slipping suspiciously from shadow to shadow, so he had dropped back and followed. Now the vampire threaded his way between grave markers toward the Boreanz crypt, and Connor knew he had the message bearer in his sights. It took all his willpower not to tackle the vampire and stake him before he entered the crypt. Instead, he followed Buffy's instructions and made his way to the top of the low, tree-covered rise in the center of the cemetery.  
  
When they had returned from the Bronze, Connor had changed into dark jeans and a black jacket. Now he took the opportunity to complete his camouflage by gathering the loamy soil under the pine trees and wiping it into his face and hands so the moon wouldn't reflect off his pale skin. Next he found a secluded spot in the underbrush, which still afforded a good view of the crypt and hunkered down to wait. Connor was an expert at waiting. He could be still for hours like a cat watching a mouse hole and had once gone two days without eating or drinking, perched on a branch, out-waiting a Parnipse demon who had him treed.  
  
However, he didn't have to wait long this time. In a few minutes two vampires emerged from the crypt. One headed north but the other began to climb the hill straight toward Connor's hiding place.  
  
"Jesse was a friend. You know he was a good friend of mine. But lately something's changed. It's not hard to define. Jesse's got himself a girl and I wanna make her mine," the demon warbled in a surprisingly good tenor as he trudged uphill. He turned and looked back down at the crypt as he stopped to light a cigarette, then he strolled under the shelter of the trees like a man taking a Sunday walk in the park.  
  
"Oh I wish that I had Jesse's girl. Yeah, I wish that I had Jesse's girl. Where can I find a woman like that? Like Jesse's guurgg...." Connor's blade sliced Greg's head cleanly off and the vampire dispersed in a cloud of dust.  
  
Connor glided back to the shadows and squatted down to wait some more.  
  
***********  
  
"All right. We're going out. Grab the girl," Brad directed, half an hour later as he climbed the ladder to the upper level of the crypt.  
  
Whiny Girlfriend complied, slinging Dawn over her shoulder like a sack of dirty laundry. She got about halfway up the ladder when she realized how awkward it could be to carry a wiggling mass of human.  
  
"Hey! A little help here," she called.  
  
Brad reached through the hole in the floor, grabbed Dawn by the back of her already sore, bitten neck and hauled her up. "Behave!" he growled into her face, his own twisted into bumpy demon ridges.  
  
As Whiny emerged from below, he tossed Dawn back into her arms. "Keep her in line. Drink her down to unconscious if you have to."  
  
They went outside where Brad stationed the other vampire in the shadow of the building. "I want you where she can see that her sister's still alive but not close enough for her to attack and get the girl away from you."  
  
Dawn heard the woman sigh deeply right next to her ear and smelled blood breath. "All right." The arms holding her squeezed harder and Dawn heard the squishy, awful sound of bones and muscles sliding into game-face.  
  
"And now, we just wait for the lion to come to us - then we cage her," Brad said confidently.  
  
Buffy was early. At 2:05 they saw her blond head shining in the moonlight as she wended her way through the cemetery toward them. Dawn felt her heart pound even harder, if that were possible. The moment was at hand when she would have to participate, to make some kind of move if any opportunity whatsoever presented itself.  
  
"Slayer," the beefy vampire greeted Buffy as she drew near. Dawn felt hot, moist breath on her neck and a pair of fangs just pressing into her skin. She held as still as her trembling would allow and waited to see what would happen next.  
  
"I'm here. What do you want?" Buffy asked coldly, her stoic face betraying nothing.  
  
"Why, you, of course," the vampire replied, trying for Elegant Villain voice and ending up with a laughable Dr. Evil one instead. "Greg! Shaq!" he called his flunkys.  
  
Simultaneously several things happened: Shaq came running from the left but Greg was mysteriously absent. Brad dove at Buffy and knocked her to the ground. Dawn tensed and prepared to drive an elbow back into her captor at the same moment that Whiny abruptly released her, pushing her roughly forward.  
  
"Slayer. Take her. I had nothing to do with this," Whiny screeched and tore off in the opposite direction to the scuffle that was taking place. Dawn crashed to the ground, hitting hard on the palms of her hands then immediately jumped to her feet. Buffy was already back up, had taken stock of the change in situation and begun to battle her two opponents.  
  
"Dawn. Run for the trees," she commanded, as she delivered a roundhouse kick to Shaq's chest and ducked Brad's punch. Dawn, who would never think of obeying her sister without an argument under normal circumstances, took to her heels up the hill.  
  
Her legs and arms pumped and her head was down as she ran when another pair of strong arms caught her. 'Must be Greg,' she decided as she struggled and kicked. She was damned if she'd let another vamp bite her. Dawn kneed the vampire in the balls hard while biting down on his arm, through a layer of fabric and skin, with her human but perfectly serviceable teeth.  
  
"Aaagh!" the vamp yelled, letting go of her and falling to his knees. "Dawn!"  
  
Dawn had already run a few paces beyond him, but the sound of her name stopped her. She turned around. "Connor?"  
  
"Yesss," he hissed, hunched over and holding his crotch.  
  
"Oh my god! I'm sorry," she said, going to him. "I thought you were a vampire." She stooped and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you all right?"  
  
He glared up at her through his long bangs.  
  
"Sorry," she said again with a weak smile.  
  
He shrugged off her hand as he scrambled to his feet and started down the hill to help Buffy. But her battle was already almost finished. Before they reached her she had staked Shaq and was straddling Brad while pummeling his face to a pulp. Dawn and Connor stood watching her fists of fury for a moment before Dawn broke in.  
  
"Uh, Buffy? You want to wrap it up? Some of us have bleeding neck wounds that need tending to."  
  
"And arms," Connor muttered, pushing his sleeve up to examine the crescent shaped bite marks that now tattooed his arm.  
  
Buffy ended it with a quick thrust of her stake through Brad's chest. He dissolved from beneath her and she jumped to her feet and went quickly to Dawn to check her injuries.  
  
"You okay?" she asked, a frown of concern creasing her face as she dabbed at the bloodied bite.  
  
"Go ahead and say it cause I know you're thinking it . Again!" Dawn said disgustedly. "It's embarrassing. Here I finally get you to start training me and it doesn't make any difference whatsoever - I still get kidnapped! This is getting really old."  
  
Buffy put an arm around her and gave her a big hug then she looked back at Connor, who was rubbing his arm. "There aren't any more of 'em?"  
  
Connor shook his head. "No. I took care of the other one." He nodded toward where Whiny had disappeared. "Do you want me to go after her?"  
  
Buffy sighed. "I guess not. Let's just go home." Supporting Dawn, whose legs had suddenly gone boneless now that adrenalin wasn't moving her, she led the way toward the north gate. Dawn stumped along awkwardly, one leg shorter than the other by a couple of inches from lack of shoe, until she felt a little tug on her arm.  
  
"Here," Connor said. They all stopped walking as he slipped Dawn's other shoe from his jacket pocket, stooped to one knee in front of her and slipped her foot into it. He fumbled a little with the side buckle before getting it fastened.  
  
"Thanks," Dawn said softly, feeling a little embarrassed at the Cinderella treatment. "And, again, I'm sorry about...."  
  
"Yeah," Connor answered curtly, jumping up and walking ahead of them.  
  
Xander had parked outside the locked gate of the cemetery and was pacing anxiously by his car. When he saw the trio approaching, he relaxed visibly.  
  
"Another successful search and rescue," he called. "We may get you to your sixteenth birthday yet, Dawnie."  
  
"Ha. Ha. Very amusing," Dawn grumped as Buffy pushed her up the stone wall into Connor's waiting arms and he passed her down to Xander on the other side. "Remind me to make jokes next time you get knocked unconscious again. That's always good for a laugh."  
  
"Point taken. Anyway, I'm glad you're all right." He gave her a fierce hug before bundling her into the back seat of the car.  
  
Buffy slipped into the passenger seat as Xander took the wheel and Connor climbed into the back by Dawn. She lay wearily across the seat and he had to wedge himself in next to her. She shifted around and suddenly he found himself with her head in his lap.  
  
"No hospital, Buffy," Dawn called out groggily. "Or Child Services will be all over us again. I just want to go home and sleep." Buffy assented unwillingly.  
  
Connor felt Dawn trembling against his leg from the chill night air and blood loss so he slipped off his jacket and spread it over her. When he was sure that she had drifted off to sleep, he allowed his hand to stroke her long, smooth hair. It felt as soft as he had imagined it would be and her head was warm and solid on his thigh.  
  
To be continued.... 


	5. 5

"Connor's Sunnydale Vacation" - Chapter 5  
  
Dawn's birthday.  
  
Thanks a million to all who've read and reviewed the story thus far. Connor/Dawn (Donner?) is not a popular ship and it's hard to get attention for my little story but I appreciate every scrap.  
  
Thanks to Lori who inspired me with the idea for Connor's present by pointing out how Spike's callous treatment of the 'girl in the alley' on Angel was really a mark of concern, empowering the girl to look out for herself instead of counting on a hero. (I was going to have Connor give Dawn a key to remind her of who she was and that would've been lame beyond words! Especially since she isn't a key anymore.)  
  
You will notice I lifted one scene that occurred in season 4 Angel (you'll know it when you hear it) and pretended like it has already happened.  
  
Also, yes I know that the end of the last chapter was corny and contrived since Buffy would, of course, insist on riding in back with her injured sis, but come on, I couldn't resist!  
  
****************  
  
"My boots!! Oh my god, Buffy, my boots!" Dawn shrieked, ringing eardrums several blocks away. "Thank you SO much."  
  
"Hey with a fashionista like Janice coming to the party you have to look your best, right?" Buffy smiled at her ecstatic sister. "Besides, I'll probably need to borrow them sometimes...."  
  
"Oh no," Dawn denied, hugging the footwear to her chest. "I am not having my precioussss returned with demon goop all over them."  
  
She dropped down on the couch and kicked off her shoes revealing rainbow- striped toe-socks. Then she began the time-consuming task of unlacing the knee-high boots with the total concentration she usually applied to an algebra problem.  
  
Buffy smiled again. "Enjoy," she said, "I've got to go bake your cake since I have to work a shift and won't have time later. Betty Crocker double chocolate fudge." She headed toward the kitchen.  
  
Connor leaned on the doorframe, arms folded, watching the incomprehensible display of fashion frenzy. He ventured into the room, sitting soundlessly down on the edge of the armchair, and casually tossed an ill-wrapped package on the coffee table in front of Dawn. At first she was too engrossed in her bootlace loosening to notice, but finally she glanced up and the strange parcel caught her attention. She looked from it to Connor questioningly.  
  
He shrugged and looked away.  
  
She picked up the object, which was wrapped in what appeared to be some kind of animal skin and bound with twine. After examining it, she set it on her lap and began to pick at the knots.  
  
Connor's eyes slid back over to watch her.  
  
"Be careful," he cautioned, as she finally gave up on the knot and slipped the tight binding off one edge of the object. Heedlessly, she peeled the leathery skin away and her present fell out into her lap.  
  
"Oh!" she said, taken aback. It was a two edged blade no longer than her hand, the handle was dark, greasy leather, worn shiny with age.  
  
"For protection," Connor explained. "It's easy to hide anywhere on you." He paused, sensing her underwhelmed response then added. "Maybe in one of your new boots?"  
  
Dawn looked up and saw the doubt in his eyes, the trace of a frown beginning to form.  
  
"It's beautiful!" she enthused, turning on her brightest wattage smile. His face cleared and he gave her that ghost-of-a-smile back.  
  
"I can show you how to use it," he said. "The important thing is to keep the blade sharp. It doesn't matter how strong you are as long you know where and how to strike and you keep your blade sharp." He eyed her spindly biceps. "That's why it's a good weapon for you."  
  
"You saying I'm a weakling?" Dawn demanded in mock indignation.  
  
He hesitated, looking uncertain again.  
  
"Just kidding. Hello. Joke!"  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Really. Thank you," Dawn said warmly. "It's a very thoughtful gift."  
  
Connor stood up, arms crossed again, and shifted slightly from one foot to the other.  
  
Dawn stroked the material the knife had been wrapped in. "Did you.. Is this from Quor-toth?" she asked.  
  
He nodded. "It's a piece of skin from the first demon I ever killed. And the knife . my father.." He stopped. "I mean, the man who raised me, ground the blade down from a bigger knife then helped me fashion a grip for it. He made it small because my hands were little." Connor paused again. "I've worn it ever since."  
  
Dawn pictured the lonely little boy and his few treasures and felt her eyes well with tears at the halting explanation. "Well, then." her voice choked and she cleared her throat before continuing. "It's a work of art, isn't it? I will treasure it, Connor." She quickly blinked her eyes free of tears and gazed at him calmly.  
  
"Just use it," he said brusquely. "Keep yourself safe." He turned and left the room.  
  
Dawn thoughtfully turned the knife over and over in her hand and then wrapped it carefully back in the scrap of leather.  
  
*********  
  
"How do I look? Do I look okay?" Dawn asked for the fifth time, turning for Buffy's inspection before resuming her job of opening dip and chip bags.  
  
Buffy surveyed her sister from head to toe, wondering when short skirts had become so incredibly...short. And kind of slutty looking. She was sure she'd never worn outfits like that. Dawn's new-old boots from the retro shop only served to emphasize the long expanse of leg leading up to the hem of said skirt. At least her top covered all cleavage, but in a kind of tight way.  
  
Buffy only gritted her teeth and smiled. "You look perfect, just like you did the last four times you asked me." Before Dawn could ask she added, "Hair and makeup too."  
  
"I'm nervous. I don't know why I'm so nervous!"  
  
"Maybe because you asked friends from different parts of your life to meet and you don't know if they're going to get along," Buffy replied wisely.  
  
"Ya think?" Dawn asked. "What the heck was I doing? Janice in the same room as Amber and Sue? Fireworks. And Ryan?! I asked Janice to come to a party where the guy I've been interested in all summer is going to be! That's like asking a cat if it'd like to play with your new pet gerbil."  
  
"You think she'd eat him?" Buffy teased. "I always wondered if Janice wasn't really a demon in disguise."  
  
"Very amusing. Thanks for the visual."  
  
Buffy, abruptly recognizing the double entendre, changed the subject. "And what about Connor? How's he going to fit in with your unusual suspects?"  
  
"He'd probably be more comfortable going on patrol with you," Dawn suggested hopefully. "Not that I hate him or anything. Actually this past week turned out better than I thought it would. Still I really can't picture him in a room with these guys."  
  
"You want an easy out, but that's not going to happen. The whole point in having Connor visit was to introduce him to average teen life and what's more average than throwing an awkward party where nobody's quite comfortable? Besides, I'm not patrolling tonight. I'm chaperoning."  
  
"Chaperoning!" Dawn wailed. "Give me a break."  
  
But her sister only blinded her with an insincere Buffybot smile and continued frosting the cake. Although she'd never admit it, actually Dawn was kind of grateful Buffy would be around to help bail her out if the tension got too thick. Sometimes it was kind of nice having an older sister who wasn't completely uncool.  
  
"Well," Dawn sighed, tearing the plastic from a packet of napkins. "Maybe Marie can talk with Connor. She's new. He's new. And as long as he keeps his mouth shut and nods a lot it could be okay, right? Oh crap! I went and told Janice he was like, mentally impaired, so do I stick with that now or what?"  
  
"You did what?"  
  
"Well, we ran into her at the Espresso Pump that first day and it just kinda came out," Dawn explained. "Also, he's our cousin from Wyoming so if you could go with that...."  
  
"Wyoming? Why didn't you just say L.A.? If you're going to lie its always best to stick as close to the truth as possible."  
  
"I thought L.A. sounded too interesting and she'd start to ask him stuff about it and he'd say something weird about how different it was to hunt demons in the city compared to their natural habitat or something...." Dawn trailed off then added, "Nobody would be interested in hearing about life in Wyoming. It seemed ... safe."  
  
"Our mentally impaired cousin from Wyoming. Good one, Dawn," Buffy said dryly. "How many candles am I putting on this cake again? Ten?"  
  
The doorbell rang and Dawn went to greet her first guest.  
  
**********  
  
Connor stood quietly in the corner wondering how long he must stay here and if Dawn would even notice if he slipped upstairs to spend the rest of the evening in his room. At least no one was talking at him anymore. The girl named Marie had finally given up and was now exchanging stories about co- workers with the red headed boy, Bryan.  
  
Dawn's other work friend, Ryan, the one she had been so excited about, was sitting with the loud girl, Janice and making her laugh a lot. Dawn was engaged in conversation with the rest of the girls at the party but Connor saw her sneaking disgusted looks at Janice and Ryan. Connor didn't like Ryan, who was noisy and pushy and stupid. And he especially didn't like the way Ryan had looked at Dawn's legs like a hungry Grathnik when he first arrived - before Janice had shown up and stolen his attention.  
  
Alex, the one who had showed him how to use a skateboard the other day, had tossed Connor a quick, "What's up, man?" when he arrived. Now he was deep in discussion with his friend Tim about soccer and how starting a new Sunnydale High team was going to effect them. Connor listened for a while and tried to understand but the terms they used weren't anything like baseball, the only sport he remotely understood thanks to Angel.  
  
He noticed Alex glancing at Dawn's friend Sue and her glancing back but never at the same moment. Connor wondered why they didn't talk to each other instead of their friends if they were so interested.  
  
The background music was loud; the conversations were carried on at top volume; and Connor's head was beginning to ache. He started to shift toward the door, intent on escape.  
  
"So, Conan," Ryan suddenly called out. "Janice tells me you're from Montana or something. What's that like? You have horses out there?"  
  
Connor froze.  
  
"He's from Wyoming and his dad owns a hardware store," Dawn interrupted too loudly. The other conversations suddenly halted and all eyes were on Connor.  
  
"You help out in your dad's store?" Janice asked in that high voice reserved for little children and lap dogs.  
  
"Yes?" Connor looked to Dawn for confirmation.  
  
"That's sweet," Janice cooed. "I bet you do a great job."  
  
"Janice said you go to a special school?" Ryan said. "You ever been like, in Special Olympics or something?"  
  
"He sure picked up 'boarding fast," Alex marveled, now that the fact that Connor was 'special' had been revealed. "Kid was amazing."  
  
"Really? So what's your sport? What do you like to do, man?" Ryan persisted amiably but with an undercurrent of something less friendly.  
  
Connor looked around at all the staring eyes and blurted out the first thing that came to him. "I hunt."  
  
"With guns?" Janice asked, wide-eyed. "They let you have a gun?"  
  
"I like a bow and arrow better," Connor answered truthfully. "Or a sword." From the corner of his eye he saw Dawn grimace and knew he'd made a mistake. The girls she was sitting with were now bestowing pitying looks on him and he wanted to slap the pity right off their faces.  
  
"Sword, huh?" Ryan grinned. "And what do you hunt? Antelope? Bear? Maybe some dragons?"  
  
"Ryan, shut up," Bryan interjected. "You're such an asshole sometimes. Leave the kid alone."  
  
For some reason this pissed Connor off more than Ryan's baiting. He knew Ryan was attempting to make a fool of him somehow, but he hated the condescending, protective note in Bryan's voice even worse.  
  
"All right then. Anybody want something else to drink?" Dawn popped up from her seat and spoke brightly.  
  
At the same moment, Connor scowled at Bryan and took a menacing step toward Ryan, his eyes burning like two concentrated blue gas jets.  
  
"I kill anything that needs killing," he said coolly.  
  
"Why don't you help me with the refreshments, Connor." Dawn glared at him. "In the kitchen."  
  
"Well that's ... ominous," Ryan stood, still half smiling but a bit taken aback by the unexpected shift in tone caused by his teasing.  
  
Connor took another step forward and Dawn grabbed his arm. "I meant now," she continued, hauling him out of the room with her.  
  
"Cool it!" she said when she had dragged him into the kitchen. "I know Ryan's being an idiot, I didn't realize what a jerk he really is, but just try to ignore him."  
  
"Why did you tell those people there was something wrong with me?" Connor fixed her with those startling eyes and Dawn squirmed inside.  
  
"I don't know. It was stupid. I shouldn't have told Janice that but I didn't know you at first and I didn't know how to explain your...."  
  
"Weirdness?" Connor supplied. He stared at her some more and she struggled to find something to say that wouldn't sound like an excuse.  
  
"I'm sorry," she finally mumbled.  
  
He shrugged indifferently. "It doesn't matter. I'm sorry you got stuck with me all week." He looked over her shoulder toward the living room. "You'd better get back to your party."  
  
Dawn followed his glance toward the living room and when she looked back, he had left the house through the back door.  
  
*********  
  
A few moments later, after calling Buffy from the laundry room and asking her to please serve drinks to the guests, Dawn followed Connor from the house. She saw his pissed off stance as he leaned against the tree in the backyard and approached tentatively.  
  
"Hey," she said, moving up beside him. "I said I was sorry and I really am. It was absolutely stupid of me to spin that dumb story and I don't want you to think.... I mean, I didn't mind spending time with you this week. I had fun." She paused but he remained motionless and silent. "Didn't you? Have fun, I mean?"  
  
He shrugged. "I don't know."  
  
Dawn counted to ten and waited, sensing that there was more he needed to say.  
  
Finally he continued, "I just.... I'll never understand this place, how things work, what people expect, how I should act. I don't belong here." In an even quieter voice he mumbled. " I just want to go home. At least I knew what to do there."  
  
Dawn knew he wasn't talking about Los Angeles.  
  
"It must be hard," she agreed. "I mean, you only knew one person your whole life and now you're surrounded by strangers. I get that."  
  
She paused, choosing her next words carefully. "But Connor, it doesn't have to be so bad here. Just give it some time and give people a chance. You know, almost everyone feels like an outsider. You're not the only person trying to figure himself out."  
  
He remained silent, picking bark off the tree.  
  
Dawn sighed impatiently and shelved the pep talk. "Besides, you're stuck here now so get over it. If you don't lighten up and learn to laugh a little you're never going to have any friends."  
  
"I don't know how to talk to people," Connor admitted, stealing a glance at Dawn. "I can't.. I don't know how.to laugh."  
  
There was a pause while windows opened in Dawn's mind and she began to understand that Connor wasn't being metaphoric, he was literally learning to speak and laugh and act like a regular human being as if it were a foreign language and he didn't have a translation dictionary.  
  
"I will never belong here." Connor repeated stubbornly, picking viciously at the bark. "I should have stayed in Quor-toth."  
  
Dawn couldn't help it. She laughed. "That's hilarious. You think my friends are worse than demons in a hell dimension."  
  
"At least I could kill the demons when they bothered me." Connor didn't crack a smile but Dawn could hear it in his voice.  
  
"There. You see," she said triumphantly. "You do have a sense of humor. We just have to dig it out and polish it up." She touched his arm. "Please come back inside. Give it another try. I'll tell everybody you're not really slow just a little ... off beat. And I'll make that ass, Ryan, shut up."  
  
Connor shook his head.  
  
Dawn punched his arm lightly. "Come on. I'll make it better, I promise."  
  
"No."  
  
"All right." Dawn nodded. She linked her hand with his. "But don't sulk, okay? And don't go off mad. I'll send everyone away as soon as I can."  
  
She gave his hand a little squeeze and he winced slightly. Dawn brought the hand closer to her eyes. It was hard to see in the dark but his knuckles appeared to be bleeding.  
  
"What'd you do?" she demanded. "Punch the tree?"  
  
"Yes." An embarrassed smile crept across his face as Dawn laughed.  
  
"Man, you ARE tightly wound," she said. "Take a Xanax."  
  
Her laughter was infectious and Connor's smile broadened.  
  
Dawn gave him an assessing look then reached out her other hand and touched the side of his face. "There. You see? You can laugh at yourself and you look a lot better smiling than scowling. Some girls go in for that sexy brooding stuff, but me, I love a smile."  
  
His eyes locked with hers and suddenly both of their smiles faded. The silence grew. They could hear faint sounds from the party inside the house; music and voices. A dog barked somewhere down the street and a car engine purred another street over.  
  
Dawn lips parted. She licked them nervously. She couldn't see Connor's expression very well, just the glint of his eyes in the moonlight. Self- consciously she took her hand away from his face.  
  
Another few seconds passed and she realized that nothing was going to happen unless she made it. She leaned in toward him, tilting her face up, but he was still frozen. Dawn became impatient.  
  
"Do you.do you want to kiss me?" she asked lamely and kind of breathlessly because her heart was pounding in her throat and choking her.  
  
"Yes," he whispered. "But.."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I don't have any money," he replied uncertainly.  
  
"Excuse me?!" She practically leaped away from him, affronted as a cat doused with cold water.  
  
"I don't have money for you," he repeated slowly.  
  
"What the HELL are you talking about." She crossed her arms over her chest and glared.  
  
Connor looked as confused as she felt but he tried to explain. "I did kiss a girl once but she died right after, and then another time when I saved a girl from a vampire she said she would only kiss me if I had fifty dollars. I wasn't sure if it was a custom...."  
  
He trailed off as Dawn stared at him openmouthed.  
  
"So I don't . have fifty dollars," he added.  
  
Comprehension burst and Dawn fought to hold back a smile. "Your father, I mean Holtz, really didn't talk to you about anything but killing demons did he?"  
  
Connor frowned.  
  
"But I would've thought Angel would explain things."  
  
"He talks to me about baseball," Connor said helpfully.  
  
"He thinks you're about seven instead of seventeen," Dawn surmised. She drew a deep breath.  
  
"Listen, Connor, you don't always have to pay a girl to, you know, make out with you. That girl you met was, um, special. She does it for a living."  
  
He looked blank then suddenly his eyes cleared and Dawn could almost envision a light bulb over his head. "So Gunn ... doesn't give Fred fifty dollars?"  
  
"Huh?" Dawn didn't know who he was talking about but it seemed to make sense to Connor so she continued, "That's right. And you don't have to give me anything for a kiss."  
  
"Okay."  
  
He stepped toward her and inclined his head slightly. Dawn slipped her hands up onto his shoulders and leaned in with her face upraised. Their lips touched chastely then separated. Connor lifted his head, eyes opening and looking curiously down at her.  
  
Dawn smiled. She wrapped her hand around the back of his neck, his soft hair tickling her skin, and pulled him into a deeper kiss. She hadn't had a whole lot of experience herself, but Connor was so clueless she felt empowered to take the lead. With parted lips she gently, repeatedly, moved her mouth against his as he began to respond. She found that a girly, full- lipped mouth on a guy was a very good thing after all. She ventured her tongue out a little and found his already waiting to meet it.  
  
A soft 'mmm' escaped her and she pressed herself more firmly against him.  
  
Like tinder to a pile of deadwood, fire suddenly flared. Things escalated quickly with Connor's strong arms pulling her even closer; his hands roaming up and down her back and finally coming to rest, cupping her bottom. He kissed her feverishly now, moving from lips to face to neck and back again.  
  
As he lightly licked the hollow of her throat, Dawn felt a roaring in her ears and her head seemed to be spinning out somewhere far away, watching from a distance. All she was aware of, all she could feel was her pulse pounding, not in her chest where it belonged, but down in her crotch which was rubbing against Connor's matching body part. A little voice of reason told her this was not a good thing.  
  
"Whoa!" She pulled away, simultaneously pushing Connor back. "Wait. Slow down."  
  
He stood gasping and gazing glassily at her. "Please." His voice sounded strangled. "I need.."  
  
"I know what you need. But you can't have," she answered. "This is way more than I.. We have to slow down," she repeated and held up an admonishing finger. "Kissing only. Maybe some hand holding. That's it."  
  
He nodded silently and stepped back toward her hopefully.  
  
She reached a hand up, carefully brushing the hair out of his eyes, and cupped the side of his face. He turned his head and nuzzled his lips against her palm, eyes drifting slightly closed in contentment. His hand gently touched the back of hers then those otherworldly pale blue eyes opened wide again and pinned her like a butterfly. He mirrored her movements with his other hand, brushing back her hair and gently stroking her face.  
  
"Like this?" he asked so quietly she wasn't sure if she'd heard or imagined the words.  
  
"Yes," she murmured, mesmerized by his eyes.  
  
"Hey Dawn? Are you coming?" Janice's bellow from the back door broke the tension and Dawn practically leaped out of her cool new boots.  
  
"Crap! I have to go back to my party," she said, frowning. She looked up at Connor then pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "I'll see you after?"  
  
He nodded and she turned and walked briskly to the house where he could hear her talking to her friend.  
  
"Uh, Dawn, were you just...? Please, tell me that guy isn't really your cousin!"  
  
"Not a cousin. Not retarded. And Janice, you're welcome to Ryan. I guess I'm not interested after all."  
  
To be continued.... 


	6. 6

"Connor's Sunnydale Vacation" - Chapter 6  
  
New romance can be wonderful ... and incredibly awkward. Dawn and Connor experiment briefly, and Angel comes to collect Connor.  
  
***********  
  
Dawn knocked softly at the door to Willow's room where Connor was staying for the duration of his visit. There was no answer and she knocked a little louder. It had taken much longer than an hour for the party to wind down and the last of the guests to be dismissed. Maybe he had fallen asleep.  
  
Then it occurred to Dawn that he was more likely to have stayed right where she left him. She hurried downstairs and out the back door. Sure enough, there was a dark shadow huddled beneath the tree.  
  
"Hey," she said, coming up beside him. He scrambled to his feet. "Sorry I took so long. I couldn't be rude but it felt like they were never going to leave."  
  
He didn't answer so she rattled on nervously.  
  
"You didn't have to wait here, you know. You could've come in the house."  
  
"It's all right. I like it outside better," he said, shifting a little from foot to foot.  
  
They both stood in embarrassed silence for a long minute and Dawn wondered how they could've moved so quickly from practically swallowing each other's tongues to being struck dumb with shyness.  
  
"Uh, you want to take a walk," she finally managed to blurt out.  
  
He nodded and followed her lead toward the front of the house and the sidewalk beyond.  
  
"Well it was a weird party," Dawn said to fill the silence as they strode side by side. "Although it got better after Janice sunk her claws into Ryan and dragged him back to her lair. Good riddance." She shook her head, smiling ruefully at Janice's predictability and Ryan's disappointing shallowness. "Anyway, at least it worked out for Alex and Sue 'cause they finally hooked up. That's what I was hoping for. He's been into her since forever."  
  
Dawn looked up at the streetlights and the stars and the house windows as they passed, anywhere but at the shadowy figure by her side. She sighed. "It was so much easier back when it was just slumber parties with your best friends in their jammies and the worst thing you had to worry about was whether to pick truth or dare."  
  
She finally darted a glance over at Connor and although his body was facing forward, his eyes were riveted on her. She wondered if there had been normal UV rays in Quor-toth's sun, assuming there was a sun, because his skin was as pale and smooth as a porcelain doll's ... or a vampire's. Maybe that was part of the superhuman package he had inherited from Angel and Darla; super speed, strength, hearing, healing and perfect, unblemished skin. It made Dawn excruciatingly aware of the nice-sized zit that was blooming on her forehead. Concealer had only irritated it and made it swell up further. She supposed she should be grateful her whole complexion wasn't a mottled mass like that Whedon kid at school and then wondered if it was vain to be glad she didn't look like that. All this flashed through her mind in a panicked instant of mental babbling, during which she wished she'd never asked Connor to come on a walk because the silence was becoming excruciating.  
  
"So, um, you want to ... stop for cappucino?" she stammered. "We could...." She gestured up the street toward The Espresso Pump. "Maybe have a foosball rematch ... or something."  
  
He smiled and shook his head.  
  
They walked some more and night noises dominated.  
  
Dawn swallowed and looked around, fishing for something else, anything else to say. Suddenly she felt a wisp of air stroke her arm. She glanced over and Connor was walking much closer, his arm practically touching hers. His eyes were downcast, brow furrowed a little as he concentrated all his attention on the sidewalk before them. As his arm swung back and forth in walking rhythm, the back of his hand brushed hers.  
  
Dawn smiled. He couldn't have made it more obvious that he wanted to hold her hand if he'd plastered it on a billboard on Route 20. That boosted her confidence level and she was able to speak again.  
  
"So, Connor, we've talked a lot about life here but you haven't told me much about what it was like in Quor-toth." She slipped her hand casually into his as she said it, not breaking stride or looking down. "I mean you couldn't have spent every minute of your life killing things and fighting for survival. What else did you do? What did you do for fun?"  
  
"Fun?" From the corner of her eye, Dawn could see him stare for a second at their joined hands then up at her face. She turned her head and met his incredulous look.  
  
"Yeah, fun. Downtime. Whatever. Your, uh, guardian must have played games with you when you were little? Cat's cradle? Rock, paper, scissors? Something?"  
  
"He...he told me Bible stories ... and Greek myths." Connor paused then looked thoughtfully up at the sky. "And I liked to look at the stars. Not the same patterns as here though and they seemed bigger and brighter."  
  
"Most of our constellations are supposed to be pictures relating to myths," Dawn supplied. "But they don't really look like much of anything but a bunch of stars to me."  
  
After another little silence, Dawn prompted, "What's your favorite story?"  
  
Connor considered the question. "The one about Hope," he finally answered. "You know that one?" His thumb was stroking the back of her hand sending delicious tickles through her nervous system and Dawn momentarily lost her train of thought.  
  
"Um, yeah. Pandora's Box. Sure. She unleashed all the evils of the world but she also released Hope." Dawn smiled. "It's a beautiful story."  
  
"Father said we should never give up hope that we would find a way out. I guess that was one thing he didn't lie about."  
  
"Mm," Dawn affirmed, not knowing how to deal with the subject of Holtz, a man Connor obviously loved, revered and despised simultaneously.  
  
"Did you, uh, ever have a pet?" she asked in an attempt to change the topic. She had an unlikely mental picture of Connor with an Ewok or a Tribble. "Maybe a lizard or something?" She rambled on. "I always wanted a kitty so bad. I asked for one every birthday and every Christmas, but we couldn't get one because Dad was allergic."  
  
"I don't know if it was a 'pet'," Connor said. "But I took care of a hatchling I found once, after I had slain its mother. It was too little to survive, and I wondered..." he stopped and Dawn waited a full three seconds for him to continue. "I wondered if maybe it could ... be changed. If I raised it, treated it gently, would it still be evil?" He looked at her. "You know?"  
  
Dawn thought about Spike and how the unlikely paradoxes in his personality had made her question the nature of evil and its ability to change. She nodded vigorously. "Oh, yeah. Definitely. So what happened?"  
  
Connor laughed sharply. "Father found out after a few days, of course. We ate it for dinner the same night."  
  
Dawn decided that no Quor-toth stories were going to end on a happy note so she tried to channel the conversation toward Connor's new life in L.A. "Well, maybe when you get home you should get a dog or something. I'm sure Angel would let you. Pets are very therapeutic and god knows you could use some therapy." She knew he wouldn't understand the last statement and he didn't disappoint. What she didn't expect was his reply.  
  
"I don't know if I want to go back."  
  
"What?" Dawn stopped walking.  
  
He stopped too and turned to face her, capturing her other hand in his. He fixed her with one of those piercing looks, which set her pulse racing. "They don't really need me there," he continued. "They don't even like me. So why should I go back?"  
  
"Uh, because that's where you live?" Dawn said. "With Angel. In L.A."  
  
"But I don't have to. I could help Buffy here like I've been doing then we could see each other." His tiny smile blossomed and Dawn thought he should have inherited his father's name to match his cherubic look.  
  
"Uh-huh," she countered. "That is ... an option ... I suppose...."  
  
His smile faltered and dimmed. He released her hands. "You don't want me to stay here," he said evenly.  
  
"No, Connor, it's not that." Dawn's heart sank as she watched the shutters slam shut on his open expression. "I like you. I really do," she soothed. "But we hardly know each other. We just kissed a little bit and for you to suddenly want to stay here ... because of, what? Me? That's...."  
  
He nodded and took a step back, jamming his hands in his pockets.  
  
"Besides, Angel just found you again. He really wants to be your dad. Don't you think you owe it to him to try to have a relationship of some kind? Spend time...." she trailed off again as Connor turned and began walking quickly away.  
  
"Oh, come on!" She trotted after him. "Don't be so sensitive! Let's just enjoy the time you have left here and then say goodbye when you have to go. Why make it so complicated?" He walked faster and she was practically running now to keep up. "Connor? Connor, wait!"  
  
Dawn's temper was frayed past the breaking point. It had been a long day full of nervous tension, mostly due to dealing with her L.A. guest and the diverse personalities at her party. All she'd hoped for on this walk was a little chat and a little more making out. Now suddenly here they were in the middle of yet another Connor angst-fest and she was sick of it. She felt sorry for him and all he'd been through, but Dawn wasn't by nature a patient person.  
  
"Fine, jackass!" she hollered, stopping in her tracks. "I'm not going to run after you. If you want to hide and sulk, go ahead, but if you want to talk like grownups, I'll be right here." They had reached the entrance to the park and she plunked herself down on the nearest bench.  
  
Connor kept stalking away. "And if I get eaten by vampires because you were too stubborn to sit and have a conversation and left me all alone in the dark park at night, it'll be your fault," she called.  
  
It had the desired effect. Connor stopped, then turned and began walking slowly toward the bench. When he reached her, Dawn was a little nervous. His face was expressionless, his eyes as narrow and fathomless as the night Angel had first dropped him off. He stared at her a moment and then grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to her feet.  
  
"I'll take you home then," he muttered, pulling her along as he walked briskly back the way they had come.  
  
But Dawn could be just as disagreeable. She dug in her heels and pulled against him. Her puny strength was no match for his but her willpower was. "No!" she insisted. "We're going to stop right here and you're going to talk to me about what you're thinking."  
  
He let go abruptly and she staggered back and almost fell on her ass. "There's nothing to talk about," he answered, crossing his arms in his classic defensive pose. "I thought you wanted me. I was wrong."  
  
She regained her balance and some of her poise. "I just told you I like you, although you're making it increasingly difficult." She stepped close to him and looked up entreatingly. "But you're, like, way more into this than I am. A few kisses don't make people instant ... soul-mates or something. Connor, I'm barely sixteen. I'm just a kid! And you're too intense. It's kinda scaring me."  
  
The tears welling up in her eyes inspired a softening in his expression. His own eyes glistened. Finally he spoke haltingly.  
  
"When we kissed.... I never ... felt anything like that before." The words pushed from him like the final mile of a marathon run. He shook his head, still amazed at the tumultuous feelings that had coursed through him. "It was so strong."  
  
Dawn nodded encouragingly and placed her hands on his crossed arms.  
  
He continued, "I wanted to.... I don't know, have you. All of you. I guess you didn't feel the same way."  
  
"That's hormones," Dawn explained. "Yeah, of course I felt it too, but ... you're right, girls feel it differently. Guys tend to go a little crazy and possessive."  
  
"So," Connor said slowly. "I don't want to leave. I want to feel that again. All the time. It was...." He shrugged, at a loss for superlatives.  
  
"Pretty amazing," Dawn agreed.  
  
"Look," She pulled his crossed arms apart and pushed into their encircling warmth. "Whether you go or stay, that's a really big decision, but let's not think about it tonight, okay? Let's not waste time being pissed at each other or arguing about what comes next. We're here now. It's a beautiful night. It's my birthday. And I want you to kiss me some more."  
  
Looking down into her face, Connor's eyes scanned back and forth, searching for something in her eyes. Then he nodded. "All right."  
  
***********  
  
She felt so slender and breakable in his embrace. Fighting instinct, which told him to crush her to him as hard as he could, Connor reined in his strength and held her loosely. He marveled at the heat her body generated and how effortlessly it aroused an answering heat in him.  
  
When she asked for his kiss, he was lost. Of course he would. Was there any doubt? He leaned in and carefully planted his lips on hers then mimicked her kisses earlier that evening, slowly and sensuously moving his mouth against hers. Lips slightly parted, tongue occasionally slipping in to taste her, he focused on this moment and on the feelings that flooded him.  
  
It occurred to him that, although Dawn was a tall girl, he was taller and so she was forced to crane her neck when she turned her face up toward him. Connor moved one of his hands to cradle the back of her head and it entangled in her silky hair. He thought that her hair felt as smooth under his palm as the age-polished wood of his favorite bow.  
  
As he kissed her again and again, exploring increasingly deeper, she melted bonelessly against him. The inside of her mouth was as steaming hot as a jungle on Quor-toth. His pulse quickened and again desire stiffened him past what he had thought possible to bear without exploding. Pulling away, he rested his forehead against Dawn's and just breathed, trying to calm himself. He noticed her breathing was rapid too and it made him feel better.  
  
"Wow," Dawn nervously tried to break the tension. "You got the kissing thing down already." She pulled away, laughing a little. "Too bad you're not so quick on the uptake with foosball." She grabbed his hand and led him to the park bench.  
  
They sat side by side gazing around at the shifting tree shadows in the park. Dawn shivered a little in the cool night air.  
  
"You're cold? We could go somewhere.."  
  
"No. Just put your arm around me," Dawn instructed, and soon she was snuggled against him with his left arm firmly wrapped around her back, hand resting on her hip. Her warm, solid weight caused a swell of something ... joy, comfort, peace ... in his chest. Connor pressed his face into the top of her shampoo-scented hair and allowed himself to relax.  
  
"You smell so good," he murmured, kissing her soft, soft hair.  
  
"Herbal Essences," she answered distractedly as his lips grazed her temple. "Shampoo," she clarified.  
  
"No. Not that chemical smell," he said. "You. Your scent underneath it."  
  
"Oh." She paused a moment and he wondered if he had said something offensive. "What is it like?" she finally asked. "What do I smell like?"  
  
Connor thought hard and tried to define the indefinable. "Salt. Something like ... bread. And ... woman." He shrugged helplessly. "I can't describe it. You're kind of like grass on a hot, sunny day."  
  
He felt her shift against him and thought maybe she was smiling.  
  
"Weird," she said, and he could definitely hear the smile. "But cool. It must be awesome to have super senses, to be able to hear and see and smell better than anybody else."  
  
"Sometimes it's useful," Connor admitted. "But this world is so loud and full of people, I get headaches a lot."  
  
Dawn removed her right hand from his thigh, which was good because it was uncomfortably close to his aching crotch, and reached up to stroke the side of his face. "Poor baby." And although her tone was as teasing as always, he could tell she meant it.  
  
"Still, it would at least be cool to have super strength. If I did, the first thing I'd do would be to beat Buffy up." Connor wasn't quite sure that her tone was teasing this time. "You don't know what it's like to be the Slayer's sister! To always be the victim, the kidnapped one, the screw- up while she's all Chosen and Special. It sucks!"  
  
Connor thought of his attempts to best Angel and how, even in their non- lethal sparring this summer he was never quite able to achieve it. "Yeah," he agreed.  
  
"I mean, I love her and all but god her attitude is annoying." Dawn paused then added. "That was one thing I loved about mom, she never played favorites. Of course, Buffy said she spoiled me, but I don't think so. She loved us both and made us both feel special. And now ever since she died, I feel like I'm nothing but in the way. Like I'm yet another problem for Buffy to solve." She paused again. "Although it has been better this summer. After that mess in spring, Buffy has started to treat me more like a grown up, to show me how to take care of myself in a fight and even to confide in me ... a little."  
  
Connor listened to her words, felt the vibration of them against his chest as she talked, and got a sudden impression that he was the first person she had ever told this to. It made him feel honored and needed that she would share her secret feelings with him. He hadn't felt needed in a long time - not since Quor-toth where his father had relied on him for his very survival.  
  
"And speaking of Buffy," Dawn abruptly sat up straight and looked at her watch. "It's getting late and I'm not into hearing one of her lectures. We'd better start back."  
  
Reluctantly Connor let his arm drop from around her shoulders. But Dawn surprised him and leaned in to begin kissing him again. "Just a couple of minutes more won't hurt," she whispered in explanation.  
  
They made out for another fifteen minutes then abandoned the park bench and began contentedly strolling toward home.  
  
When they were a couple of houses down from the Summers' home, Connor suddenly froze. "No!" he exclaimed.  
  
"What?" Dawn strained to see what had caught his attention and when she finally focused on the convertible parked in her driveway she gasped as well, "Oh no. Not yet."  
  
Connor grabbed her hand harder, tight enough to squeeze an "Ow!" from her and began walking purposefully toward the house. "He can't do this!" he seethed. "He can't just show up and expect.... I'm not going."  
  
Towed along behind him, Dawn made no comment.  
  
*************  
  
Buffy stood in the corner, arms folded across her chest, exactly as Connor had done earlier that evening. She watched Angel and Connor square off not like angry barn cats as she would have expected, more like the ocean surf breaking on a rock; inexorable force meets immovable object. The louder Connor got, and she was beginning to be afraid the neighbors might call the police, the quieter and more insistent Angel became.  
  
She glanced over at Dawn, who was surprisingly not getting involved in the verbal brawl. That was very uncharacteristic of her sister and Buffy wondered what it meant. She also wondered how this little romance had blossomed right under her nose while she had remained embarrassingly ignorant.  
  
Listening to Angel's patient and humoring tone, Buffy realized he couldn't have chosen a worse way to deal with his angry son. She knew this because even when the paternal condescension was no longer directed at her, it still made her chafe and itch. 'Angel, grab a clue!' she thought. 'He's a teenager not one of your underlings.'  
  
As Angel's calm finally began to fracture and his voice rose, Buffy knew the situation was escalating to the point where she needed to intervene. She stepped forward.  
  
"Okay. Time out," she cut across their arguing, making a referee's T with her hands. She spoke imperiously. "Angel, why don't you go to the kitchen and ... well, there's no blood in my fridge but I'm sure you can find something to do with yourself." He opened his mouth to argue and she quelled him with a look. "Let me talk to Connor and Dawn for a minute, please."  
  
Frowning, Angel complied and Buffy turned to face the young couple, her brain racing and a little prayer going up to her mother to help her find the right words to make the situation clear without alienating either one of them.  
  
First she smiled to show the natives she was friendly. Next she reined in her desire to wail, "When did this happen and where was I?"  
  
"So ... you two really ended up hitting it off," she remarked as an opener. "I can see you like each other a lot," she added to show them she appreciated the validity of their feelings.  
  
Connor eyed her suspiciously waiting for the 'but...' while Dawn's face remained confusingly unreadable.  
  
"I know what it's like to be sixteen and in love," Buffy said directly to Dawn, hoping her sister would remember how she had mooned around the house over Angel, but doubting that a self-involved twelve-year-old would even have noticed.  
  
"I'm not stupid, Buffy," Dawn cut across her attempt at empathy. "I know Connor can't stay here and I wouldn't say we've fallen in love, but, damn, couldn't Angel have shown some consideration and called before he came? Given us a little time? A little advance warning? We only just started...." Her bottom lip started trembling and she sucked it in and quit talking.  
  
Buffy noted Connor's betrayed expression as he looked at Dawn. Obviously he was riding the Love Boat by himself and the hurt in his blue eyes gave Buffy a sock to the gut of deja vu. Suddenly his fem features morphed into Spike's angular ones and Buffy felt her stomach trembling harder than Dawn's lip. People started liking other people and somehow somebody always cared more and got hurt.  
  
"Yes, he should have phoned," she agreed. "Angel does tend to think that his agenda is more important than everyone else's. But..." she turned her attention to Connor now, "you do know that he needs you at home, right? Really needs you." She waited a beat for this to sink in then continued gently. "Your place right now ... isn't here."  
  
Buffy could tell from his eyes that the argument was finished before she even began talking. Dawn's lack of support and feeling for him had accomplished what all of Angel's calculated cajoling couldn't, broken his will.  
  
"Maybe you could talk Angel into coming back in another few days, maybe a week," Dawn said hopefully to Buffy. "He listens to you."  
  
"Maybe," Buffy agreed.  
  
"Or if not, at least you could come and visit again soon. We'll see each other again. L.A. is only a little over an hour away," Dawn clutched Connor's arm and looked at him beseechingly. "Plus we can talk on the phone and I'll send you e-mails through Fred."  
  
Buffy felt her heart break a little more as she watched Connor's jaw clench and his eyes do that shut-down thing. "Yeah," he said, carefully removing his arm from Dawn's grasp.  
  
"Look," Buffy said, wanting to give them a moment alone. "I'll go see if Angel can spare you for another week and then...."  
  
"No." Connor cut her off. "Don't bother. I might as well go now."  
  
"Connor...." Dawn began knowing she had failed him but not how to fix it.  
  
"I'll get my things," he continued, brushing past her on his way toward the stairs.  
  
"Crap!" Dawn muttered watching him ascend the stairs and scrubbing at her now-streaming eyes.  
  
"I know," Buffy said, coming up and putting an arm around her.  
  
"Why do things have to be so hard?" Dawn asked, leaning against her short big sister. "Why do some people have to feel so deeply?"  
  
"That I don't know," Buffy said.  
  
"And is there something wrong with me because I don't feel it? I mean, I liked the kissing and all. Loved it. But I'm not ready to be IN love. Not yet."  
  
"No!" Buffy gave her a squeeze. "There's nothing at all wrong with you and when the time is right and the person is right you'll get hit with it like a truck. Hopefully your timing will be better than mine and you'll love whoever it is at the same time and depth that he loves you." She added, "Plus, hopefully no vampires or curses."  
  
With a last hug Buffy pulled away from Dawn. "I'd better go tell Angel that Connor is going home."  
  
The End  
  
Author's Note: That's the end of "Connor's Sunnydale Vacation" but Dawn and Connor's story will continue in "Dawn in L.A." which will take place a year later, post "Chosen" when the Sunnydale survivors turn up on Angel's doorstep for aid. I swear I will continue this project since I have great interest in seeing Donner get completely 'coupled up' once they have a little more maturity. As far as I'm concerned this story was just a chance for the characters to be introduced to one another in preparation for a real love affair later. I have two story ideas; one with the Connor mind-wipe and one without and I really need to see the rest of season 4 "Angel" on TNT first so I know what I'm dealing with and how much I dare change it. There are five more episodes to go, so in about five weeks I will add on to this story. Even though it's a sequel, I will post it under this title so people don't have trouble finding it. Thanks again for all feedback. I've really appreciated it. Hope this story didn't end too abruptly or feel too rushed. After I'd read it over for the fifth time or so it was hard to tell. 


End file.
